Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Liep (John) Papers
MSS 0782
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: John Liep Papers
Creator:
Liep, John
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0782
Physical Description:
4.3 Linear feet
(10 archives boxes, 1 card file box, 3 oversized folders)
Date (inclusive): 1920-2007 (bulk 1971-1980)
Abstract: Papers of Danish anthropologist John Liep (1936-2014), who was known for his research on Rossel Island (or Yela), located
in the Louisiade Archipelago, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The collection includes field notes and notebooks, slides,
negatives, sound recordings, writings, drawings, and correspondence.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Danish anthropologist John Liep (1936-2014), who was known for his research on Rossel Island (or Yela), located
in the Louisiade Archipelago, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The collection includes field notes and notebooks, slides,
negatives, sound recordings, writings, drawings, and correspondence. Liep traveled to Rossel Island in 1971-1972, 1973, 1980,
and 1989-1990.
Arranged in five series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITINGS, 2) RESEARCH, 3) PHOTOGRAPHS, 4) MAPS AND DRAWINGS, and 5) SOUND RECORDINGS.
John Aage Liep was born September 20, 1936 in Horsens, Denmark. Originally a student of architecture at the University of
Copenhagen, Liep switched to social anthropology, completing a master's degree in 1970. He began his field studies on Rossel
Island (or Yela) in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea in 1971, often accompanied by his wife, Annette Liep, and their
two children. Liep was best known for his studies of Rossel Island economics and social systems. In particular, he described
the ranked exchange of shells on the island as displays of distinction and rank, rather than as a monetary system, in contrast
to the earlier studies of W.E. Armstrong.
Liep was a lecturer at the University of Copenhagen Institute of Anthropology from 1970 to 1978 and an associate professor
from 1979 to 2003, when he became associate professor emeritus. He was also associated with the Australian National University
in Canberra for his field studies in Papua New Guinea. In 2009, he completed his Ph.D. dissertation for the University of
Copenhagen, which was published as
A Papuan Plutocracy: Ranked Exchange on Rossel Island. Liep continued writing and attending conferences until shortly before his death on November 14, 2014.
John Liep Papers. MSS 782. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 2015
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Original sound recordings are restricted. Listening copies may be available for researchers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- Rossel Island
Anthropology -- Melanesia
Louisiade Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs
Rossel Island (Papua New Guinea)
Liep, John -- Archives