Abstract
search Station in the upper Wahgi valley, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, are interpreted as indicating the beginning of agriculture in the region at about 9 000 years BP. The deposits in the swamp register an episode of accelerated erosion in the catchments explained as due to forest clearance for gardening. A contemporary channel in the swamp basin is considered to be a man-made feature, designed to remove water and allow gardening in the basin itself. Archaeological features thought to be associated with this gardening are described. Amongst them are basins possibly resulting from the wallowing of pigs, animals not indigenous to New Guinea. The date of arrival of pigs in the island ultimately from Southeast Asia, at present a matter of dispute, is discussed in relation to the question of whether the earliest New Guinea agriculture was based on native New Guinea plants or already incorporated the allegedly Southeast Asian cultigens which are dominant in contemporary New Guinea, and Pacific, agriculture.
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