'Nduja di Spilinga
Soft, spreadable Calabrian pork sausage made with a great deal of red chilli and fatty pork, stuffed into natural casings, sometimes smoked and matured while staying soft.
Built structures · Pits and cavities
Bwiru pit
bwiro · bwiru
A small household pit dug into sandy ground on Namu Atoll to ferment breadfruit as bwiru. Nancy J. Pollock's 1968 field account describes its lagoon-side setting, leaf lining and stone-covered opening.
A pit on Namu's lagoon shore
Bwiru is fermented breadfruit; this page describes the pit Pollock observed in Majkin, Namu Atoll, rather than treating Pacific pits as one standard design. In June 1968, households prepared the season's breadfruit for fermentation. Men dug small pits in sandy ground above the high-water mark on the lagoon side of the wato, the islet. Pollock measured them at roughly 2.5 feet across and 3 feet deep.
That setting is part of the form. The account describes an earth cavity in sand, not a built stone or masonry tank. Breadfruit leaves gathered from the inner part of the wato lined the holes. Several layers of fresh leaves and flat stones covered the filled pits; Pollock notes that the flat stones were reused each year.
Sources for this section
A household food structure
The pit received fruit that had first begun fermenting in the open air. After a couple of days, men walked over the softened fruit with carefully washed feet to break it down; the early batch went into the holes, followed by less-fermented fruit. Pollock describes the contents being tamped down before the leaves and stones were put back over them.
The pit was not only a remote famine store. In 1968, households began eating from the pits after about a month, and bwiru was part of meals through September and early October. The account also records the paste being shared with Namu people living on Ebeye. Its use combined preservation with a familiar food eaten during the seasonal cycle.
Sources for this section
Keep the island details distinct
Pollock notes that banana plants were scarce on Namu. She contrasts its breadfruit-leaf lining with reports from Ailinglablab, where large banana leaves were used. This distinction matters: the Namu description supports the leaves, soil and dimensions recorded here, but does not make them a universal Marshallese template.
The account does not specify an engineered drainage system, a standardized lining thickness, or a modern food-safety design. It is an ethnographic description of a particular community's practice in 1968, not construction advice. Nor should the Namu pit be confused with stone-built processing structures elsewhere in Oceania.
Sources for this section
History
Nancy J. Pollock's 1984 account draws on fieldwork at Majkin, Namu Atoll, in 1968–69. It documents bwiru pits as part of a recurring breadfruit-processing season and daily food, while also noting their preservation role.
Site
SettingHousehold bwiru-making on Majkin, Namu Atoll; pits were dug on the lagoon side of the wato.
GroundSandy terrain above high-water mark. Pollock gives this as a specific Namu siting detail.
ClimateThe cited account does not specify a controlled climate or numerical temperature.
FootprintAbout 2.5 feet across and 3 feet deep in Pollock's Namu field account; these are observed dimensions, not a universal standard.
NotesA fixed, dug feature lined and covered with local plant material and stones. Do not conflate it with Pohnpei masonry pits or the banana-leaf lining reported for Ailinglablab.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
How it is built
Materials
- Sandy ground — Pit dug into sandy terrain above high-water mark on the lagoon side of the wato
- Breadfruit leaves — Gathered from the inner part of the wato and laid as the pit lining; fresh leaves also covered the filled pit
- Flat stones
- On Namu, household pits were dug into sandy ground above the high-water mark on the lagoon side of the wato; Pollock recorded them at about 2.5 feet across and 3 feet deep.
- Breadfruit leaves were collected from the inner part of the wato and set in place as the lining.
- After the fruit had begun fermenting in the open air for a couple of days, it was tamped into the lined holes. Pollock describes pits filled with batches at different stages of fermentation.
- The filled pits were covered with several layers of fresh leaves and the flat stones kept for that purpose. This records the Namu method observed in 1968, not a general construction plan.
Places
Majkin, Namu Atoll
Documented use · Locality evidenceThe source locates the observed bwiru-making community at Majkin on Namu Atoll; no coordinates are supplied.
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Sources
Journal de la Société des OcéanistesForm · Materials · Method · Use · Dimensions · Geography · History
Breadfruit Fermentation Practices in OceaniaPollock reports fieldwork at Majkin, Namu Atoll, in 1968–69 and describes household bwiru pits dug in sandy ground above high-water mark on the lagoon side of the wato.
The Namu pits were about 2.5 feet across and 3 feet deep; breadfruit leaves lined them, and several layers of fresh leaves plus flat stones covered them.
The account documents a household/community production cycle and ordinary eating in September and early October, not only emergency storage.
Pollock contrasts Namu's breadfruit-leaf lining with banana-leaf lining reported on Ailinglablab; those are not interchangeable island-specific details.
Cited in: A pit on Namu's lagoon shore; A household food structure; Keep the island details distinct