ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the mediating role played by material things in the continuation of aspects of personhood beyond death. It argues that the things that mediate between the living and the dead among the Mbuke contain and transport 'soul-stuff' from one person to another. Among the Mbuke certain specialized skills, such as canoe building and the hunting of particular animal species are conceptualized as exchangeable parts of persons and are passed down within the descent groups. As a material mediation, in the temporal slot of making and the period leading up to transaction the spear embodies what was otherwise embodied by human bodies. The material thing, the axe or the spear, is an amalgamation of time, containing in a temporary slot or even in a moment, in a single body, the infinity of the thing-concept. Material things in turn act as media of knowledge and skill transfer among living persons, as well as between the living and the dead.
