FEATHER EVIDENCE HELPS CLARIFY LOCALITY OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS IN THE MUSEUM OF MANKIND

Authors

Carla J. Dove, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Abstract

Species of birds used on ethnographic artifacts collected during the eighteenth century and stored at the Museum of Mankind (British Museum) were identified by using microscopic and whole-feather characters. One of the objects (VAN 345), labeled as having been collected on Vancouver’s voyage to Tahiti, was a feather pendant made of long strands of chicken feathers with small red feathers at the base. The small red feathers were examined microscopically, compared with museum study skins of all possible species, and identified as Vestiaria coccinea (‘I‘iwi). Since this species is known only from the Hawaiian Archipelago, it was determined that the locality data on the object was in error. This study presents the procedure for feather identification and discusses the possible explanations for the discrepancies in the locality data. The identification of the ‘I‘iwi on this object supports previous speculation on the validity of locality data on these Polynesian artifacts and that some objects attributed to the Vancouver collection may have been collected on Cook’s expedition to Hawai‘i.

Recommended Citation

Dove, Carla J. (1998) "FEATHER EVIDENCE HELPS CLARIFY LOCALITY OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS IN THE MUSEUM OF MANKIND," Pacific Studies: Vol. 21: No. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol21/iss2/6