Two dimensional carvings made throughout the Papuan Gulf are commonly referred to as ancestral boards. Some are thought to represent spirits encountered in the forest and protective forces called upon before hunting. “These ancestral boards do not really depict ancestors of a particular family, but rather represent the faces and bodies of spirits living in the rivers, in the bush, or in the ocean. Each man’s ancestors had to learn to carve these images and encourage the spirits to reside in them. These boards are the tangible embodiment of these powerful spirtis that look after individual families and clans.” (Welsch 2005) The abstract designs on boards are precise and fall into several stylistic categories. Many incorporate elements of the human face and navel (and at times the torso) in conjunction with chevron patterns of dark and light pigment; the navel depicts the direct ancestral connection. They are generally kept in the communal men’s house.”
