Early agriculture in the highlands of New Guinea: an assessment of Phase 1 at Kuk Swamp. In A Pacific Odyssey: Archaeology and Anthropology in the Western Pacific. Papers in Honour of Jim Specht

Abstract

The wetland archaeological evidence for Phase 1 at Kuk Swamp, Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea, is evaluated in terms of previous interpretations of the artificiality and agricultural function of the palaeochannel and palaeosurface. The evaluation concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to warrant claims of artificiality for the palaeochannel and some palaeosurface elements. Drawing on previous multi-stranded arguments proposed by Jack Golson and Philip Hughes, new lines of multidisciplinary evidence suggest a revised interpretation of the wetland archaeological evidence for Phase 1 at Kuk does not negate a long-term trajectory towards agriculture in the highlands of New Guinea from the Early Holocene.

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