Can you help solve this mystery?

Do you know anything about the history of this carved stone figure? If so, we need your help!

The figure is one of the most unusual objects in a collection of Papua New Guinea artefacts in the care of the LCA’s international mission museum, which recently relocated from Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills to North Adelaide. The museum will officially reopen on Sunday 16 June 2019.

The carved stone figure, which is just a head and neck measuring about 11cm tall by 6.5cm wide, is painted in ochre and white. When the museum was founded by Christel Metzner 20 years ago, this object was found among other artefacts in the LCA’s then Church House in North Adelaide. However, there is no recorded information about the item – its provenance and donor are unknown.

Recent expert advice from the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra suggests that the stone figure may be prehistoric in origin.

If you have any information about the stone figure, please contact mission museum project manager Timothy Pietsch, via email at timothy.pietsch@lca.org.au or phone on mobile 0419 606 707.