First published 1987
Peter Matthiessen travels to the Baliem Valley in central New Guinea as part of the Harvard-Peabody Expedition in 1961. He encounters the Kurelu, a Stone Age people who have survived into the modern era with their ancient ways intact. Matthiessen spends two seasons living among them, observing their daily existence in one of the world's last untouched wildernesses. He witnesses their cycles of work and rest, their warrior traditions, their ceremonies of celebration and mourning. The Kurelu live by patterns that stretch back centuries, but their isolated world faces an uncertain future. Matthiessen draws on his background as both naturalist and storyteller to capture a culture marked by both brutality and stark beauty. His account reveals a people whose lives unfold according to rhythms unknown to the modern world, yet whose humanity resonates across the vast differences that separate their Stone Age existence from contemporary life.
Genres: 20th-century, adventure, anthropology, non-fiction
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, observational
Setting: Baliem Valley, New Guinea
Period: 1961
320 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books