The bowl is hewn from one piece of palm wood. The diameter is round and the bowl has four cylindrical feet. The surface is polished with a checkering file and a pumice. Then it was coloured dark. <BR> The carving of the bowls was the job of men. <BR> Bowls had several functions. Firstly were they used as dishes for food like soup with sago or meat. They were considered more valuable than the plaited and Panarium coated bowls, so they were mostly reserved for men and women of high rank. When a woman was in seclusion during her initiation, she had to eat out of wooden bowls.<BR> A second function of wooden bowls was during ceremonies and rituals. <BR> In healing ceremonies, a wooden bowl with water was part of the equipment of the healer. The water was stirred to take in the soul, so that it could later be placed back into the ill person. <BR> A large wooden bowl was also reported to have been part of a feast to remember a deceased leader. The new leader was the host of this feast. All guests put as many betel nuts in the bowl as they had brought pigs to honour the new leader. When everybody had his turn, all the nuts were counted aloud in front of everybody. <BR> Sometimes, skulls of deceased family members were kept in such a bowl in the house to entertain a good relationship to the patron ghost of the house, which the soul of the deceased is considered to be. The soul of a deceased father has the most protective powers. The skull protects the house and its people from malicious influences. It also punishes the family member, who act sinfully or against the moral. Offerings like aromatic herbs are put in the bowl from time to time. On public feasts, the bowl with the skull is brought out to the veranda and all the offerings made by the house owner are made in the name of the ghost. <BR>