The Mesem "Magic" Stone

Many years ago a village elder told us the story of a magic stone that the spirits in the rain forest had given to the Mesem people as a gift. Whenever the Mesem went hunting with the stone, they were guaranteed success. They would go out, set their traps and be guaranteed success the following day. We asked what had happened to the stone, and were told that no one knew where it was, but it was suspected it had been taken by people living in an area closer to the coast.

So, it was with great surprise that a friend of Neil's approached him and told Neil that he had the stone in his possession. He asked that it be taken to the US to undergo tests to find out the source of it's power.

The stone is safe and will be evaluated for age and we are amazed at the detailed work on the stone given that no metal tools were known in Papua New Guinea until last century. We'll keep you posted on what we learn but many of you heard us tell this story some 15 years ago when we began working with the Mesem. It's quite the modern day mystery!