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The Moko, a type of drum,
still used for a variety of
purposes to this day in Alor 13
society.

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Another cultural tradition was the round axe which was still found in Papua. Similar to the
moko kettledrum, it seems that oblong axe was brought into Indonesia by the Austronesian
speaking dwellers, including the Neolithic culture found in the eastern part of Indonesia.
This culture had spread widely throughout many regions including the Philippines, Taiwan,
mainland China and Japan. This culture arrived in Melanesia1 from China or Japan through
Taiwan, Philippines and Indonesia (Simanjuntak et al., 2012b). This tradition was followed
not only by the population in the coastal area where the Austronesians and Melanesians
interacted, but also by the indigenous people in the interior. Some regions which still
preserve the tradition of producing oblong axes areat Cykloop Mountain, Ormu in Sentani,
Ngolo Valley in the mountains of Jayawijaya, Jabodide and Kobutu in the mountains of
Weylan, and Gatini Wonggeme village in Tolikara (Heine Geldern, 1945).
Two questions can be asked about the existence of the oblong-axe making in Papuan
society; how did they know this culture, and how did they preserve the oblong axe which
had practical and social functions in Papuan society? The most likely answer is that the
oblong axe was an adopted Neolithic culture from the Austronesian speaking population.
Its practical functions were suitable for the Papuan environment; it could be used as a tool
to cut trees, for carpentry, and to open up sago stems. These might have been reasons
for its adoption. Other functions, such as a status symbol, dowry, traditional fines, and
ceremonial object made the oblong axe a part of the culture. It was also possible that the
original oblong axe was part of Melanesian population culture. It could have been part
of the give and take process between the populations. Austronesian speaking settlers,

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