Five Centuries of Settlement Dynamics and Mobility in the Northern Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location of the Raja Ampat Islands off the coast of New Guinea.

Figure 2. Languages spoken around the Raja Ampat islands. Compiled from information in Arnold, ‘Four undocumented languages of Raja Ampat’, 25–43.

Figure 3. Proposed phylogeny of the Raja Ampat languages, following Arnold in ‘The Diachrony of Word Prosody’.

Table 1 Population census of the Raja Ampat Islands during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.³⁰

Date	Population
1953	12,004
1973	22,095
1998	35,338
2010	42,508
2020	48,493

Figure 4. Stilt houses around Raja Ampat: (a) settlement on the north coast of Waigeo illustrated by Friedrich Schroeder and J. Arago during voyage of the corvettes S.M. l‘Uranie and S.M. la Physicienne; (b) houses in Mayalibit Bay, illustrated during the cruise of the Marchesa in 1883; (c) house on the south coast of Waigeo, illustrated during the same voyage; (d) probably Lamlam or Missigit on the north coast of Waigeo, photographed in 1917 by crew of the SMS Wolf, a German armed merchant raider; (e) houses on the Waigeo coast, c. 1920; (f) Wawiyai village, Kabui Bay, Waigeo 2018.⁵³

Figure 5. Changing settlements locations and toponyms based on historical maps, part 1.⁸³

Figure 6. Changing settlements locations and toponyms based on historical maps, part 2.⁸⁷

Table 2. The seat of the Raja of Waigeo, recorded by available European sources.⁹⁰

Year	Seat of Raja of Waigeo
1581	Gam Island (?)^91
1705	Kabilol, Mayalibit Bay^92
1774	Beo Island, Mayalibit Bay^93
1860	Linso or Waiornin/Waiomin (?), Mayalibit Bay^94
1883	Momos/Mumes^95
1887	Mumes^96
1887	Waiomin/Waiornin, Mayalibit Bay^97
1926	Lopintol, formerly Fafak, Mayalibit Bay^98

Figure 7. Historical movements of Biak-speaking groups around the outlying islands southwest of Waigeo, based on oral traditions recorded in 2018.

Figure 8. Map of archaeological locations with site codes mentioned in the text.

Figure 9. Abiap Puyauw (WAI-59) cave: (a) interior of cave with stream; (b) a freshwater eel currently present in stream; (c) surface find WAI-59-1, a flake with fish scale residue along retouched edge (arrows denote retouch and dotted lines denote macro-use wear).

Figure 10. Secondary burial objects from Ambel and Maˈya sites: (a) house burial at Taukapaya (MAY-1); (b) burial furniture collected by Solheim from Kalep Minet (WAI-24), now in the Anthropology Museum, University of Cenderawasih, Jayapura; (c) porcelain plate from Aput Lo (WAI-34) ossuary, decorated with the ‘island of bliss’ motif consisting of a watery landscape with boats on a river, islets, pagodas, shrines, pine trees, mists, and swirling clouds, common in the 16th to 17th century. The presence of a glazed base indicates it was likely made in Jingdezhen, China; (d) porcelain sherds from Aput Lo (WAI-34) shelter including one with a ‘Ming mark’ on the reverse which reads 富貴佳器 (Fugui jiaqi), referring to the ware’s fine quality and ability to bless the owner with wealth. It was a popular inscription on porcelain made for commercial markets and household use in Jingdezhen in the 16th and 17th centuries; (e–g) maker’s marks from Kalep Minet (WAI-24) ossuary including (e) Societe Ceramique mark from Maastricht, in use from 1863–1955, (f) a Petrus Regout & Co. mark from Maastricht in use after 1883, and (g) a George Jones & Co. mark, produced before 1873.

Figure 11. White rock art around Waigeo Island: (a) Yé lal (WAI-51) showing art highlighted in red above the tidal notch, about 2 m above mean sea level; (b) detail view of WAI-51 Panel 1, showing two people in canoe with characteristically uplifted arms welcoming sail boat; (c) detail of Fafag (WAI-55) rock art – according to stories, this shows conflict between local groups and newcomers, with the figure on the left having been shot with an arrow; (d) detail of Mlelen Popo (WAI-54) rock art, possibly a crustacean; (e) faded geometric painting at WAI-63, originally recorded by Solheim and others.

Figure 12. Drone photography of Nyandebas showing location of test pits.

Figure 13. Stratigraphy of Nyandebas TP3 and TP4, looking west.

Figure 14. Earthenware rim and neck sherds recovered from Nyandebas (GAM-3). GAM-3-1-A, large rim from surface of site with internal red slip; GAM-3-1-B, neck from surface of site with internal red-slip, which presumably derives from same vessel as GAM-3-1-A; GAM-3-22-B, thin rim, unslipped, from TP4 Layer 1, Spit 3, made from a different fabric to GAM-3-1-A and GAM-3-1-B; from TP2 Layer 1, Spit 1, are GAM-3-8.1 and GAM-3-8.2, thin rims, and GAM-3-8.3, a thin corner point of dish, all unslipped and made from a similar fabric to GAM-3-22-B.

Figure 15. Kampung Tua (GAM-13), the former ‘Besir’ settlement: (a) site with midden eroding from the beach flats; (b–c) Chinese porcelain; (d–e) European glazed earthenware; (f) Thai characters on earthenware plate; (g) ‘tower mark’ from FAM Bonn, produced between 1885 and 1920; (h) impressed mark from FAM Bonn, used around 1870 to 1920; (i) crescent and star maker’s mark with ‘Made in Germany’.