essay
Attaining rank: a classification of kula shell valuables
Kula : new perspectives on Massim exchange • Cambridge, U.k. • Published In 1983 • Pages: 229-248
By: Campbell, Shirley F..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Based on data obtained from field work on Vakuta Island, this article presents information on the criteria used in classifying Kula shells, how these shells are arranged into ranking categories (according to well-defined features such as age and color), the relative value and relationship between categories, and the manner in which various shells are able to move between categories (p. 229). Campbell notes that shells apparently enter the system in the lower to middle rank and from there move slowly up the classification hierarchy as they accumulate age and history.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Ornament
- Exchange and transfers
- Gift giving
- Price and value
- Ethnophysics
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Trobriands
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1995
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Melanesia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- Sept. 1976-Jan. 1978
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1976-1978
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Vakuta Island, Papua New Guinea
- NotesAdditional notes
- [by] Shirley F. Campbell
- Bibliography will be found in 36: Leach, Information Sources Listed in Other Works (113)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 82004142
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Trobriand Islanders