Curious Alien-Looking Slit Gongs Figures From Vanuatu Enabled Village Communication

MessageToEagle.com – These alien-looking figures are truly extraordinary in their appearances. They can be found primarily on Ambrym, Malakula, and neighboring islands.

Ambrym, a volcanic island in Malampa Province in the archipelago of Vanuatu located in the South Pacific Ocean was named by Captain Cook, who anchored off there in 1774.

In order to communicate between the villages people created the slit gongs. Under proper atmospheric conditions, their sound can carry for miles through the forest and, in rare instances, across the water to neighboring islands.

The slit gongs were also often used in ceremonies. The objects were carved from the trunks of large breadfruit trees, and then hollowed out to create a resonating chamber with a narrow slit-shaped aperture.

The towering slit gongs of northern Vanuatu are considered to be the largest freestanding musical instruments on earth.

According to ancient myths a primordial woman invented the slit gong, but she did not produce a sonorous meaning or beauty with it, so the men took it over to show what it could be done.

Slit gongs are shaped like alien-looking figures. The heads are large and curved back.

The most prominent features are the large disk-shaped eyes painted with a spiral motif representing “metan galgal”, the morning star. The face is surrounded by a number of rows of concentric tooth-like projections, representing the hair and small arms. The long vertical slit is the mouth from which the voice of the ancestor emerges every time the gong is played.

“The ancestors watch over human activities,” says curator Eric Kjellgren at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “but are also connected with the larger workings of the cosmos.”

The slit gong kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is unique because it was created by people whose identities were known, but many slit gongs were produced by unknown people who never bother to carve their name or initials on these curious alien-looking musical instruments.

Copyright © MessageToEagle.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of MessageToEagle.com.