A Zoomorphic Stone Figure, Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea

A Southern Highlands Stone, 25 cm high.Some remnants of ochre. 
Collected in situ by Jim Erkilla, a missionary in the Southern Highlands in the late 1950s/1960s. The figure was found during excavations to build a road.
 Depicting an echidna, an egg-laying mammal native to New Guinea and Australia. Though we are unsure of their original purpose, they are considered powerful objects and highly revered.
€4500