Agriculture In New Guinea Research Articles

Prehistoric human impact on rainforest biodiversity in highland New Guinea

In the highlands of New Guinea, the development of agriculture as an indigenous innovation during the Early Holocene is considered to have resulted in rapid loss of forest cover, a decrease in forest biodiversity and increased land degradation over thousands of years. But how important is human activity in shaping the diversity of vegetation communities over millennial time-scales? An evaluation of the change in biodiversity of forest habitats through the Late Glacial transition to the present in five palaeoecological sites from highland valleys, where intensive agriculture is practised today, is presented. A detailed analysis of the longest and most continuous record from Papua New Guinea is also presented using available biodiversity indices (palynological richness and biodiversity indicator taxa) as a means of identifying changes in diversity. The analysis shows that the collapse of key forest habitats in the highland valleys is evident during the Mid - Late Holocene. These changes are best explained by the adoption of new land management practices and altered disturbance regimes associated with agricultural activity, though climate change may also play a role. The implications of these findings for ecosystem conservation and sustainability of agriculture in New Guinea are discussed.

New evidence and revised interpretations of early agriculture in Highland New Guinea

This review of the evidence for early agriculture in New Guinea supported by new data from Kuk Swamp demonstrates that cultivation had begun there by at least 6950–6440 cal BP and probably much earlier. Contrary to previous ideas, the first farming in New Guinea was not owed to SouthEast Asia, but emerged independently in the Highlands. Indeed plants such as the banana were probably first domesticated in New Guinea and later diffused into the Asian continent.

Reading Early Agriculture at Kuk Swamp, Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea: the Archaeological Features (Phases 1–3)

Multi-disciplinary field investigations were undertaken in 1972–7 and 1998–9 at Kuk Swamp in the upper Wahgi Valley in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Multi-period finds dating from the early Holocene to the recent past and interpreted to represent human manipulation of a wetland margin for plant exploitation were documented. The archaeological remains dating from the early to mid-Holocene have partially grounded contested claims for the emergence of early and independent agricultural practices on the island of New Guinea. In this paper, the early to mid- Holocene archaeological remains at the site (ie, those allocated to Phases 1, 2, and 3) are reported in detail. The authors of this paper all agree that plant exploitation began at Kuk at c. 10,000 cal BP, however they hold different interpretations of the archaeological evidence from the swamp, which have in turn led to diverse claims for the antiquity of agriculture in New Guinea by at least c. 10,000 cal BP (Golson and Hughes), or by at least 6950–6440 cal BP (Denham). Divergent readings of the archaeological remains are presented at length in order to clarify the evidential bases for the varying claims and to promote future discussion.

Archaeological evidence for mid‐Holocene agriculture in the interior of Papua New Guinea: a critical review

AbstractClaims for the early and independent origins of agriculture in New Guinea partially rest on the archaeological evidence for mid‐Holocene drainage and land use at five sites in the interior. The five sites are Kuk, Kana, Mugumamp and Warrawau in the Wahgi Valley and Ruti Flats in the Lower Jimi Valley, all in Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. The archaeological remains, morphological comparisons and chronological correlations at each site are critically evaluated. Problems with the constitution of the mid‐Holocene remains are raised, with claims for agricultural remains at two sites, Kana and Ruti Flats, considered questionable on the available, published evidence. The archaeological remains at Kuk, Mugumamp and Warrawau consist of palaeosurfaces interpreted to represent prehistoric cultivation using mounds.

Can Climate Influence Cultural Development? A View through Time

Abstract Despite the devastating impact that flooding, drought and fire associated with the 1982/3 and 1997/8 El Nino events had on both the natural environment and human society, there is little information on the persistence or impact similar events may have had in the 'deeper' past. Palaeoecologists can offer insight into the nature of environmental change over a range of spatiotemporal scales, utilising high-resolution techniques that can broaden the interpretation of issues that are specifically relevant to historians, geographers and anthropologists. In some cases there appears to be a correspondence between major climatic events and a change in cultural development that leads us to ask the question, 'How significant has climate change been in the development of human society?' We discuss the role of environmental history in studies of cultural change, and critically assess four case studies where climate may have had a significant impact on the development of human society: human evolution in Africa, development of agriculture in New Guinea, urban collapse in Central and South America, and Pacific island occupation.

Identification of cultivated Pandanus and Colocasia in pollen records and the implications for the study of early agriculture in New Guinea

Pollen records from the island of New Guinea, spanning the last 60 000 years, show a vegetation system sensitive to global climate change and strongly influenced by anthropogenic activity. The evidence for anthropogenic activity in pollen diagrams has focused on indirect indicators such as forest clearance, burning and increases in arable weeds. Tracing individual cultivars has proven to be very difficult as the major cultivated plants, in this case dominated by root crops, have low pollen production, are insect-pollinated or are harvested before flowering occurs. The identification of some cultivars is further restricted by limited information on pollen morphology. The pollen morphology of selected species from two genera (Pandanus and Colocasia), known to include important cultivated species, have been studied. Five pollen taxa are recognised after examination by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It is shown that these can be easily distinguished on the broad criteria of pollen class, grain size and size of echini. The taxonomic and dispersal characteristics of the pollen morphology of these taxa are discussed and the implications of improved identification of cultivated species in late Quaternary pollen records are considered.

Early agriculture in New Guinea and the Torres Strait divide

The high and low islands of Torres Strait, scattered between the tip of Queensland and the coast of Papua New Guinea, make a unique frontier in later world prehistory: between a continent of hunter-gatherers and the majority world of cultivators. Consideration of just what archaeology there is in the Torres Strait Islands, and of its date, improve on the conventional question: was the Strait a bridge or a barrier?

Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Models in Ecological Anthropology: An Evaluation of “Stability” in Maring Ecosystems in New Guinea

Three models pertaining to the stability of Maring ecosystems have been proposed. The first is the local stability model, in which a population seeks its own equilibrium state; the second is the regional stability model, in which each population is ultimately unstable, but populations persist somewhere in space; and the third is the disequilibrium model, in which neither stability nor population regulation is attained. In the disequilibrium model, exogenous factors prevent a population, which is moving toward some equilibrium state, from reaching it. The large number of quantitative anthropological and ecological studies in Highlands New Guinea has not shown clearly which of these three models best describes reality. Simulation of shifting agriculture in New Guinea shows that the Highlands systems are equilibrium‐seeking, but have such limited recovery rates from disturbance that even small perturbations are sufficient to keep them from reaching equilibrium. When the influences of technological innovation, environmental change, and social‐cultural evolution are taken into account, the disequilibrium model is the model of choice. These systems remain away from their stable equilibrium points most of the time, if those exist at all. Thus, New Guinea agroecosystems can be stable or unstable depending upon how stability is defined.

Changing Native Agriculture in New Guinea

Changing Native Agriculture in New Guinea