Late Quaternary change in the mountains of New Guinea.

Late Quaternary change in the mountains of New Guinea. At the south and north limits of our region are mountainous areasvery different from the open arid spaces of the Australion continentbetween. In the north, the high country of New Guinea New Guinea(gĭn`ē), island, c.342,000 sq mi (885,780 sq km), SW Pacific, N of Australia; the world's second largest island after Greenland. offers a complexand well-studied environmental sequence as the arena for early andpuzzling human adaptations, precursor of the extraordinory societies ofthe New Guinea Highlands The New Guinea Highlands, also known as the Central Range or Central Cordillera, are a chain of mountain ranges and intermountain valleys on the island of New Guinea which run generally east-west the length of the island. environments The New Guinea Highlands comprise the central mountains of the hugeisland of New Guinea, taken here as those places above 800 m withmontane mon��tane?adj.Of, growing in, or inhabiting mountain areas.[Latin montnus, from m or even alpine climates running from central Irian Jaya Irian Jaya,province, Indonesia: see Papua. to thesoutheast part of Papua. Surprisingly, we know more about the environmental changes andhuman occupation of this region than almost any other tropical area,although information is still incomplete and many key questions remain.At present, an intermontane zone from 1200 to 2400 m within the areadiffers completely from the other zones of Sahul (referred to by Allen1993 as `Greater Australia') in having dense populations ofhorticulturalists practising intensive cropping. These remarkable humanlandscapes are matched by contrasts in the environmental controls, sincethe intermontane zone has abundant reliable moisture and radiation aswell as mild temperatures and reasonably fertile and free-drainingsoils. That environment creates the opportunity for intensiveagriculture, which, it is suggested (e.g. Yen 1991, & this volume),may have developed indigenously in the area, in the course of a humanhistory going back beyond 30,000 years. The montane region is not all suitable for such agriculture;Brookfield (1964) pointed out that the outer flanks of the ranges aretoo clouded and wet to support crops except where local topographypermits it. These areas have very low populations, in contrast toenclosed highland valleys with locally generated weather patterns.Cloudiness and cold create an upper limit to agriculture at about 2500 m(reaching 3000 m in a few places where the surrounding mountains arevery high). The sub-alpine regions near population centres, heavily usedfor hunting and as communication routes, are drastically altered from anatural state. Late Pleistocene-early Holocene climatic change Climatic Change is a journal published by Springer.[1] Climatic Change is dedicated to the totality of the problem of climatic variability and change - its descriptions, causes, implications and interactions among these. is implicated bysome (e.g. Golson & Hughes 1980) in agricultural origins in theHighlands, which they see as being marked by the appearance of plantsand techniques of cultivation from lower altitudes around 9000 b.p.,closely following the attainment of the climatic conditions that allowedit. Questions posed by recent reviews (Allen 1993; Golson 1991a; 1991b;Haberle 1993a; Mountain 1991a; 1991b; Swadling & Hope 1992) concernthe transition from late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene (also known as Upper Pleistocene or the Tarantian) is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of Eemian interglacial phase before final glacial episode of Pleistocene 126,000 �� 5,000 years ago. to Holocene climates, the apparentassociation with it of strategies of landscape manipulation and control,and the relationship of these to the `agricultural' practices ofthe early Holocene. Spriggs (in press) makes a distinction betweenagriculture and plant cultivation/domestication in respect of bothenvironmental impact and overall importance in subsistence. Arguing thatagriculture makes an abrupt appearance in the New Guinea area with plantand animal introductions associated with the Lapita culture Lapita cultureCultural complex of what were presumably the original human settlers of Melanesia, much of Polynesia, and parts of Micronesia. The Lapita people were originally from New Guinea or some other region of Austronesia. around 3500years ago, he is inclined to doubt any earlier manifestation in theHighlands. For the present discussion, the character of early-Holoceneoccupation in the Highlands is seen in the light both oflate-Pleistocene land-use and of later activities up to the introductionof the sweet potato sweet potato,trailing perennial plant (Ipomoea batatas) of the family Convolvulaceae (morning glory family), native to the New World tropics. Cultivated from ancient times by the Aztecs for its edible tubers, it was introduced into Europe in the 16th cent. , arguably about 300 b.p. This review examines these questions for the New Guinea Highlands:* What is the nature and timing of environmental change across thePleistocene-Holocene transition that led to the establishment of modernclimates and vegetation patterns? * Does the archaeological record The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology to denote all archaeological evidence, including the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyze and reconstruct the past. support a model of human responses to these environmental changes? * Arethere regional or zonal patterns to the changes? * Are there resourcelosses or gains that might create an increased pressure for organizedfood production? * Is the appearance of complex agricultural systems anevolution or a revolution, and when did it happen? The reviews mentioned above have assembled most of the availableevidence. The data come from retreat dates of glaciers, pollen diagramsand fire histories from swamps, lakes and occupation sites, faunalremains from caves and swamps, and the archaeology and geomorphology geomorphology,study of the origin and evolution of the earth's landforms, both on the continents and within the ocean basins. It is concerned with the internal geologic processes of the earth's crust, such as tectonic activity and volcanism that constructs new ofshelter and open sites. The 50 pollen sites studied on the island havebeen reviewed by Haberle (1994). The widespread tectonism tec��ton��ism?n.1. The structural behavior of an element of the earth's crust.2. Crustal instability.[tecton(ic) + -ism.] , and in someareas vulcanism, of the middle Pleistocene So far, the Pleistocene Series is not subdivided into formal units (i.e., Stages). Several solutions were proposed, and dedicated working groups are presently pursuing an agreed solution. (Pigram & Davies 1987)have combined with cool climates to provide abundant peaty basins withgood opportunities for dating and analysis. Despite the activegeomorphologic ge��o��mor��phol��o��gy?n.The study of the evolution and configuration of landforms.geo��mor processes, surprisingly old land-forms and surfaces areretained in many areas, accumulating detailed histories of past events.Here the records seem to reach back beyond the appearance of consistentburning, which provides strong circumstantial evidence circumstantial evidenceIn law, evidence that is drawn not from direct observation of a fact at issue but from events or circumstances that surround it. If a witness arrives at a crime scene seconds after hearing a gunshot to find someone standing over a corpse and holding a for humanpresence in montane climates, where natural fires are very rare. Longsequences of peats older than 30,000 b.p., such as those underlying Kukor beneath volcanic ashes near Tari, show no indication of burning(Haberle 1994). Environmental change in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene There is marked controversy about the climatic changes experiencedin New Guinea, due to a conflict of the terrestrial records with oxygenisotopic and foraminiferal records in marine sediments from the Pacificnorth and east of New Guinea. Thunnell et al. (1994) reiterate the claimthat the ocean temperatures north of New Guinea (the Pacific `warmpool') varied by as little as 2[degrees]C at the height of the lastglaciation, about 18,000 b.p. Nevertheless, at that time the snow-linein New Guinea lay at 3500 m, at least 1100 m below its level today.Explanations of this anomaly usually depend on a very steep lapse ratetypical of dry air, but the montane vegetation of the period shows nosign of increased aridity. Clearly the Highlands were cooler, althoughthe effect was reduced at lower altitudes. Hope & Tulip (1994)estimate a lowering of the lower-montane boundary by c. 600-780 maltitude, and this is consistent with an estimated depression of 900 min the upper-montane to sub-alpine boundary. For the moist forestcommunities involved, this corresponds to temperatures c. 4-6[degrees]Ccooler than present, with the snow-line corresponding to c. 7[degrees]Ctemperature lowering. The pollen record from Sirunki indicates that the period32,000-28,000 b.p. was one of rising forest limits, indicating warmer ormore settled conditions (Walker & Flenley 1979). Even so,temperatures 4[degrees]C cooler than present are indicated by atree-line at 2800 m, compared to 3900 m today. After 23,000 b.p. thetree-line descended to about 2200 m until 14,500 b.p. (Walker & Hope1982). Hope (1989) suggests this expansion of grassland at the expenseof forest was not driven solely by temperature change, but may also havebeen due to factors such as the low partial pressure of carbon dioxide carbon dioxide,chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. during the pleniglacial, which might restrict the growth of trees attheir altitudinal limits. The Highlands were certainly cooler andpossibly more cloudy throughout the last glacial period, as shown bywidespread Nothofagus forests. The retreat of the snow-line, commencingjust before 15,000 b.p., had cleared all but the highest summits of iceby 11,000 b.p. By this time forests had started to invade the mountains,passing 3200 m at 11,000 b.p. and developing sub-alpine forest to aboutits present limits by 11,000-9000 b.p. Climates similar to present areindicated soon after 10,500 b.p. by the enrichment of sub@alpine forestsby lower-altitude tree species (Hope 1986; 1989). A general decline inNothofagus pollen in many diagrams reflects the development of moremixed forests at all altitudes due to warmer, less misty, conditions. Inplaces such as the southern flanks of the southeastern Papuan ranges andthe upper Simbu River, beech virtually disappeared by 9750 b.p.,presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. reflecting the establishment of warm dry seasonal conditions.In some Irian Jaya areas an initial retreat of Nothofagus reversedaround 10,000 b.p. and only resumed c. 8000 b.p. (Hope in press). Evidence for Holocene climate change is equivocal due to increasingeffects of human disturbance, the best evidence being an apparentlyhigher tree-line and undisturbed alpine development on Mount Wilhelm(Hope 1976). This is followed within the last 3500 years by at leastfour glacial advances, the last apparently contemporaneous withneoglaciation elsewhere (c. 500-200 b.p.) and perhaps reflecting alowering of snow-lines by c. 200 m in the latter half of the Holocene. The effects of these minor changes in temperature at mid-montanealtitudes are not known. Brookfield & Allen (1989) argue thatsouthern oscillation departures have a strong effect on highland NewGuinea, and speculate that the frequency of severe droughts or coldperiods may have varied, as the southern oscillation varies. If so,there is a case for suggesting that the early Holocene may have beenless prone to drought and frost than today, since evidence forvariability increases after 4500 b.p. The archaeological record of human response to the environmental changes Recent reviews of the archaeological evidence - Allen (1993),Golson (1991b), Mountain (1991a) - make reference to an earlyproposition by Hope & Hope (1976) that interpretation of thearchaeological record needs to take into account the large extension ofsub-alpine grassland accompanying the glacial depression of thetree-line; this environment is of unknown but possibly great potentialfor hunting and gathering around the forest-grassland ecotone e��co��tone?n.A transitional zone between two communities containing the characteristic species of each.[eco- + Greek tonos, tension, tone; see tone. andbeyond. In fact, the evidence, admittedly slender and deficient, can beinterpreted as indicating a greater focus on the resources of theforest, though local topography would have afforded the inhabitants ofsome sites ready access to a large range of elevations, below as well asabove (Golson, in Hope et al. 1983: 44). Even so, the two earliest known sites, both occupied c. 25,000b.p., are also the highest. At c. 2000 m, the open site of Kosipe (Whiteet al. 1970; White & O'Connell 1982; 56-7) is the morestrategically placed for activities at the tree-line, but preserves noeconomic evidence with its artefacts. Nombe rock-shelter (Mountain 1983;1991a; 1993) is at 1720 m; though for topographic reasons the area ofgrassland immediately above it would have been limited, it was evidentlypreferred to Kiowa, only 5 km distant in the same limestone massif mas��sif?n.1. A large mountain mass or compact group of connected mountains forming an independent portion of a range.2. but200 m lower, which has no evidence of occupation until the end of thePleistocene. The Nombe sequence, which extends from the late Pleistocene up torecent times, has rich faunal remains comprising a suite of terrestrialand arboreal arborealpertaining to trees, treelike, tree-dwelling. animals of characteristically wide altitudinal range, withsome species more common in the upper-montane forest and a few extendinginto grassland habitats. After a prehuman deposit extending from earlierthan 33,000 to c. 25,000 b.p., there is evidence of human utilization,though very sporadic until c. 14,500 b.p. (Mountain 1993; 127). Thesequence to this point contains four extinct animals, all slightlylarger than the largest extant species. One is a diprotodontid and threeare macropodids, all inferred to be forest browsers (Flannery et al.1983; Menzies & Ballard 1994). They provide the only associationfrom New Guinea of extinct Pleistocene fauna with human beings. Theextent is uncertain to which the animals were predated by humans or bythe thylacine thylacine(thī`ləsīn')or Tasmanian wolf,carnivorous marsupial, or pouched mammal, of Tasmania. The thylacine is often cited as an example of convergent evolution: It is superficially quite similar to a wolf or dog, , Thylacinus cynocephalus, present from the beginning ofthe site until its own extinction in the Holocene (Mountain 1993; 127). Four sites in addition to Nombe and Kosipe are potential candidatesfor occupation in the period around 18,000-15,000 b.p. One, Batari, isomitted here because of the excavator's reservations about thePleistocene age of the initial human use of this cave (White 1972: 16).Two open sites, NFX NFX Newfield Exploration Company (stock symbol)NFX Network EffectsNFX Netflow Aggregation Support at 1550 m in the Eastern Highlands Province (Watson& Cole 1977: 35-40) and Wanelek (formerly Wanlek) at 1680 m in theBismarck-Schrader Range (Bulmer 1977a: 65; 1991; 471-2), lack economicevidence and are difficult to interpret, but evidence of structures isreported from each. The small rock-shelter of Yuku, at 1280 m at thebase of the Hagen Range, is presumed to go back to this period by virtueof its 150 cm of archaeological deposit below a radiocarbondetermination on bone collagen of c. 12,000 b.p. (Bulmer 1975: 29-33).Its faunal remains have not been reported in detail; the artefactual adj. 1. of or pertaining to an artefact.2. made by human actions.Adj. 1. artefactual - of or relating to artifactsartifactual evidence suggests more intensive use than at Nombe at this time, asmight befit be��fit?tr.v. be��fit��ted, be��fit��ting, be��fitsTo be suitable to or appropriate for: formal attire that befits the occasion. its lower elevation. Activities at Kosipe, Yuku and Nombe continue to the end of thePleistocene and beyond; increasing human activity at Nombe is evident ina higher incidence of burnt bone, accompanied by a greaterrepresentation of fruit bats (Mountain 1993: 127-8). This and theutilization of three new rock-shelter sites by the end of thePleistocene - Manim at 1770 m in the Western Highlands Province,Kafiavana at 1350 m in the Eastern Highlands Province, and Kiowa at 1530m in Simbu Province - have been interpreted (Golson 1991b: 88-9) asreflecting the ameliorating conditions of the post-glacial period. Variation in human activities is to be expected over thealtitudinal and chronological range represented by the investigatedsites, particularly at a time of climatic change. One dimension ofvariation is the uneven distribution of a distinctive artefact See artifact. type, thewaisted blade or axe (including a tanged variant). It is prominent.among the artefacts at Kosipe throughout the period of its utilizationfrom c. 25,000 b.p. into the early Holocene; known at Yuku from thebeginning of its occupation to the mid Holocene, when specimens wereedge-ground; represented at Nombe by two examples at c. 25,000 b.p.(Mountain 1983: 94, & pers. comm.); but not reported from the otherexcavated sites, except for Kiowa, where three were found inmid-Holocene and later levels (Bulmer 1964: 262; 1975: 35). The Nombespecimens are associated with an edge-ground axe; the Kosipe assemblagecontains flaked axe-adzes, with one definitely ground specimen in a latelevel; and at Yuku, though not at the very beginning, there are whatBulmer (1977b: 44) calls end-edged bifaces that could be the equivalentof the unwaisted axe types from the other two sites. Groube and his students found waisted axes in large numbers on theraised coral terraces of the Huon Peninsula (Groube et al. 1986).Excavated specimens, in tephras dated by thermoluminescence thermoluminescenceEmission of light from certain heated substances as a result of previous exposure to high-energy radiation. The radiation causes displacement of electrons within the crystal lattice of the substance. to at least40,000 b.p., include one with a groove on both faces between thewaisting notches, which shows that at least some of the implements werehafted and can be properly called axes. Groube (1989: 297-300) proposesthat they were the tools by which the rainforest was `tamed' - thedense canopy opened up by thinning, trimming and ring-barking to provideconditions for the growth of useful plants (cf. Mountain 1991b) - andforest disturbance accompanied by fire, attested in the pollen record,is more likely to be associated with clearance than with hunting inrainforest. R. Bulmer's review of New Guinea forest huntingstrategies, whose environmental impact he described as negligible (1968:313), supports the point. Flannery (1994: 295) also suggests thathunting in upper-montane forest would have been unproductive untilpartnership with the dog was established, perhaps only 2000 years ago. An association of waisted axes, and of flaked axe-adzes, withforest disturbance is provided by Kosipe. Here, in peat-land, carbonizedparticles are absent until 30,000 b.p., when a consistent andsignificant charcoal input signals frequent burning of the swampvegetation. Hill-slope deposits at the archaeological site near by havebeen pollen-analysed for the period 30,000 to 19,000 b.p. The montaneforest of Nothofagus and other taxa was occupied by people who openedclearings as shown by the grass and treefern levels. Phytoliths indicatethat the grasses were panicoid, hence derived from sub-alpine areas -not surprising since the swamp supported sub-alpine taxa such as Asteliaat the same time. Kosipe evidently lay close to the Pleistocenetree-line, yet the forest on the site is of a type in which Pandonusjulianettii flourishes today. In the absence of direct evidence, we canspeculate that the Pleistocene occupants exploited ecotonal huntingopportunities and maximized the crop of high-altitude Pandanus, usingwaisted axes and flaked axeadzes to clear the vegetation round the treestands, on the model of the Pandanus management described inethnographic accounts (cf. Groube 1989: 300; Golson 1991b: 87-8). Indirect evidence of Pleistocene activity is provided by sometimesfragmentary records available from other sites. Pollen and charcoal froma shallow pond on the summit of Supulah Hill, at 1580 m in the BaliemValley, Irian Jaya show that burning and limited clearance of aNothofagus forest was occurring by c. 32,000 b.p. (Swadling sc Hope1992: 22; Hope in press). Burnt wood buried by eroded sands on theslopes of the same hill has been dated to c. 28,000 b.p. (Haberle et al.1991). In Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea(păp`ə, –y , Haeapugua Swamp near Tari at 1650 m,reflects increased burning and grassland extension from c. 21,000 until8000 b.p., when the area was invaded by mixed montane forests (Haberle1993a; 116). At Telefomin (1450 m) an extension of grassland followingburning occurred c. 16,000 b.p., but the site was re-invaded by swampforest after 2-3000 years (Gillieson & Hope 1989). Pleistocene-Holocene change The montane zone (1200-2700 m) The Kuk Swamp project, best described by Golson (1977), used thedistribution of humanly made features preserved in a sequence ofsurfaces as a record of changing land-use over 9000 years. This waspossible in a continuously aggrading swamp, aided by numerousvolcanic-ash marker-bands. To understand the inputs and outputs, anintensive survey was needed to establish sediment volumes and to assessthe effects of human intervention. The investigations were seen as providing `unequivocalevidence' (Golson 1991a: 484) of five separate episodes ofagricultural use of the swamp back to c. 6000 b.p., in the form of large(up to 2x2 m) and lengthy (over 750 m) water-disposal channels anddistinctive gardening systems on each of the drained surfaces.Supporting evidence was found in the ratios of non-woody to woody taxain regional pollen diagrams, which suggested substantial forestclearance for agriculture by 5000-5300 b.p. (e.g. Powell 1982).Unfortunately all pollen records from the Mount Hagen area have a hiatusin deposition, caused presumably by erosion, so the timing of thecommencement of the forest clearance is not available. The five episodes of swamp drainage lie stratigraphically above agrey clay which was deposited between c. 9000 and c. 6000 b.p. Beneaththe grey clay was found an association of structures reproducing in ageneral way that typical of the five systems above, so an analogousinterpretation of wetland management for cultivation was advanced for it(Golson 1991a:484-5, based on Golson & Hughes 1980). The associatedstructures at the c. 9000-year-old level beneath the grey clay consistedof an undeniably artificial channel with characteristics of line anddirection identical to those of the younger disposal channels and avariety of features on the drained surface - stake-holes, basins andhollows, some certainly humanly made and all with human associations,given the artefactual items found with them. The grey clay itself is important in this connection (Golson 1991a:485). It is the most distinctive component of a fan deposit thickest atthe southern margin of the swamp where the sediment-bearing watersenter, and wedging out to the north. A recent re-study of the history oferosion at Kuk (Hughes et al. 1991) is based on much more comprehensivedata than was originally available (Golson & Hughes 1980: 296-7). Itindicates that the deposition of grey clay between c. 9000 and c. 6000b.p. represents an eight-fold increase in the rate of erosion in thecatchment, to a level not far short of that typical of the subsequent6000 years of activity up to the modern era of cash-cropping. The sourceof the eroded materials would have been bare or sparsely vegetatedground affected by rain-splash and surface wash@ the sudden appearanceof such environments at c. 9000 b.p. was attributed to the introductionof a new subsistence mode, that of shifting agriculture, supposedly fromlower altitudes (cf. Golson 1991b:88-9). The interpretations receivesome corroboration from the 7000-year record of forest change obtainedfrom a swamp deposit at Kelela (1550 m) in the Baliem Valley at the samealtitude and similar setting to Kuk (Haberle et al. 1991). Kelelademonstrates that considerable forest disturbance had already takenplace at the commencement of the record, although further clearancecontinued. The sub-alpine Evidence for exploitation of the sub-alpine zone extends back to11,000 b.p. at both Mount Jaya (Hope & Hope 1976) and Mount AlbertEdward Mount Albert Edward can refer to: Mount Albert Edward in British Columbia, Canada Mount Albert Edward in Papua New Guinea (work in progress). Burning and destruction of the sub-alpinescrub at 3600 m commences while glaciers are still present in the uppercatchments. Hunting would appear to be the major motive then (as now)for these visits, and the Mapala rock-shelter at 4150 m, recordsoccupation for the last 5000 years. Hope et al. (1993) note that somefauna, for example the small kangaroo, Thylogole christensii, onlydisappears about 3500 years ago; prior to that time large sub-alpineareas were productive and often used for hunting. The timing of the useof the highest areas is probably correlated with climatic amelioration a��me��lio��ra��tion?n.1. The act or an instance of ameliorating.2. The state of being ameliorated; improvement.Noun 1. and the loss (through forest advance) of much larger grasslands down to2200 m over the previous few thousand years. The dispatch of huntingparties to high cold areas where no permanent settlement is likely tohave occurred may reflect the establishment of sedentary bases in thevalleys, and so may be indicative of increasing populations there. Lowlands For Golson (1991a; 1991b), the qualitatively differentmanifestations at Kuk at c. 9000 b.p. imply that the major plants in thecultivations proposed for that time were not from the Highlands, buttropical crops from the lowlands, now viable in the favourable climaticconditions of the post-glacial. He has in mind in particular taro taro:see arum. taroHerbaceous plant (Colocasia esculenta) of the arum family, probably native to Southeast Asia and taken to the Pacific islands. (Colocasia esculenta), various yam species (Dioscorea spp.), and bananas(Musa spp.) of the Australimusa section (cf. Yen, this volume). Theargument implies some previous history of cultivation in the lowlands(cf. Golson & Hughes 1980: 301). Limited evidence for this hypothesis is now available from thenorthern coast of Irian Jaya, at Lake Sentani, where surrounding Themedagrasslands resemble those which form patches from north of theeast-flowing Sepik River to the upper Markham River in Papua New Guinea.These areas are relatively dry, due to blockage of rain by the greatmountains of the central cordillera cor��dil��le��ra?n.An extensive chain of mountains or mountain ranges, especially the principal mountain system of a continent.[Spanish, from cordilla, diminutive of cuerda, cord and the discontinuous discontinuous/dis��con��tin��u��ous/ (dis?kon-tin��u-us)1. interrupted; intermittent; marked by breaks.2. discrete; separate.3. lacking logical order or coherence. ranges of thenorthern coast. Under present climates, forest should occur; thegrasslands have either been created by fire in the Holocene ormaintained from the presumed drier late Pleistocene. Garrett-Jones(1979) showed that open savannah with associated burning was alreadyestablished in the Markham Valley by 7000 b.p. Lake Hordorli, a smallclosed basin at 780 m altitude in the Cyclops Mountains (Hope a Tulip1994), indicates the first appearance of burning 11,500 years ago. Lowfertility, the rain@shadow of the Cyclops Mountains and theattractiveness of the Lake Sentani-Jayapura area make Sentani liable toshow human impact at an early stage of settlement. The connection withagriculture is unknown, but possible, given the extent of clearance. Other indications from lowland and lower montane areas relevant tothe question of agriculture are later in time. The lower montane sitecomplex at Ruti (500 m), investigated by Gorecki & Gillieson (e.g.Gorecki 1989: 146-50), has palynological evidence for forest clearingand archaeological evidence for swamp cultivation back to c. 5000 b.p.At Dongan, near the mouth of the Ramu, well-preserved plant remainstestify to developed arboriculture arboricultureCultivation of trees, shrubs, and woody plants for shading and decorating. Arboriculture includes all aspects of growing, maintaining, and identifying plants, arranging plantings for their ornamental values, and removing trees. at 5800 b.p. (Swadling &, Hope1992: 31-2; cf. Gosden, this volume). As Haberle (1994: 175-6) notes,there has been a major lack of palynology pal��y��nol��o��gy?n.The scientific study of spores and pollen.[Greek palunein, to sprinkle + -logy. in the relevant zones and thesame is true of archaeological research. Regional and zonal patterns of changeMany montane sites record major human impacts much later than theMount Hagen or Baliem regions (Haberle 1994: 175). Higher-altitudemontane sites, like those on the Sirunki Plateau around 2500 m, are onlydisturbed in the late Holocene, after 4500 b.p. Kosipe shows a markedrise in disturbance and charcoal only within the last 2500 years. Thelate extension of clearance to these sites may have been because theywere marginal as agricultural prospects. Yet Haberle (cited by Golson& Gardiner 1990: 410) reports no earlier date than 4500 b.p. forforest disturbance and associated slope-wash at Norikori (Noreikora)Swamp at 1750 m in a major agricultural zone of the Eastern Highlands.And at Tari, the evidence for significant clearance at 1650 m is delayeduntil 5200 b.p. (Haberle 1993b: 266-7). The site was invaded by swampforest in the Holocene, which may have masked the early impact of humansettlement away from the swamp. If agriculture was successfullyestablished early in some montane valleys, why did it take a long timefor it to be adopted in others? Potential resource gains and losses 15,000-7000 b.p. Growth climates Warmer and less cloudy environments could have liberated newresources in the Highlands during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition -but these environments should have been present, not far away, in thelower-montane areas. The only project to have been mounted there,mentioned previously in connection with the Ruti site complex, foundnothing older than 5000 b.p. except, circumstantially, three flakedpebble artefacts, including a waisted blade of the tanged variety(Gorecki 1989: 148). This problem can only be resolved with moreadequate survey; it may turn out that the lower-montane zone was neververy different from today, where excessive moisture and cloud areinimical inimical,n a homeopathic remedy whose actions hinder, but do not counteract those of another. Also calledincompatible. to settlement. Dry conditions from May to September in theintermontane basins are caused by the southeast trades, which have adepth of 3500 m in the latitudes of New Guinea. The wind system may havebeen shallower and weaker in the late Pleistocene (Hope 1989), and onlywhen it strengthened in the Holocene did the seasonal dryness of theintermontane basins begin. Such changes in the wind system would nothave affected the foot-hills, which would always have received copiousorographic o��rog��ra��phy?n.The study of the physical geography of mountains and mountain ranges.oro��graph falls. In the intermontane valleys, the new rainfall regimewould have encouraged the use of fire to clear forest during the runs ofdry days that replaced the previous daily drizzle. The role of frost is unknown; the presence of frost-hardyvegetation down to 2000 m at the height of the last glaciation suggeststhat frosts were common at the tree-line, then at 2200 m (Brookfield1989). The intermontane valleys were probably subject to cold airdrainage until c. 12,000 b.p. The tentative phase of early-Holocenewarmth may mean that unusual frost events causing crop death would havebeen particularly rare at the early part of the Holocene. Faunal resources From the few major fossil sites described (Menzies & Ballard1994; Mountain 1991a), it is clear that Papua New Guinea suffered theextinction of its large terrestrial mammals, in common with Australia.Large macropods MacropodsDerived from the Greek, macropod literally means "large footed." Macropods are marsupials belonging to the family Macropodidae, which includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree kangaroos, pademelons, and several others. (Protemnodon tumbuna, P. nombe, Dendrolagus noibano) andat least four species of diprotodontid are known from cave or swampsites (Menzies & Ballard 1994). The diprotodontids includeHulitherium thomasettii from Tari and a smaller species from Nombe, bothforest browsers. Zygomaturus nimborensia is known from lowland karst Karst(kärst), Ital. Carso, Slovenian Kras, limestone plateau, W Slovenia, N of Istria and extending c.50 mi (80 km) SE from the lower Isonzo (Soča) valley between the Bay of Trieste and the Julian Alps. west of Lake Sentani, while a new genus of diprotodontid, Maokopiaronaldii, has recently been recovered from fluvial flu��vi��al?adj.1. Of, relating to, or inhabiting a river or stream.2. Produced by the action of a river or stream.[Middle English, from Latin gravels and a cave at2900 m in central Irian Jaya (Hope et al. 1993). If this small speciesinhabited sub-alpine grassland, as its dentition dentition,kind, number, and arrangement of the teeth of humans and other animals. During the course of evolution, teeth were derived from bony body scales similar to the placoid scales on the skin of modern sharks. suggests, it may havebeen affected by the forest expansion at the end of the Pleistocene. Aswe have seen, the only association of extinct Pleistocene species withhumans in the region is at Nombe, where the overlap may have existed for10,000 years. The predator Thylacinus cynocephalus continued well intothe Holocene at Nombe. Mountain (1993; 127), reporting a dramatic risein the amount of humanly deposited bone in the early Holocene at thissite, describes it as a base camp. The Mapala rock-shelter (Hope &Hope 1976) contained numerous small Thylogale, possum possumor phalangerAny of several species (family Phalangeridae) of nocturnal, arboreal marsupials of Australia and New Guinea. They are 22–50 in. (55–125 cm) long, including the long prehensile tail, and have woolly fur. and giant ratmandibles from 5000 b.p. onwards, the result of hunters making a two-orthree-day journey from garden areas. Loss of grassland ecotones Sub-alpine grasslands shrank from c. 50,000 sq. km at 14,000 b.p.to small remnants on remote peaks at 9000 b.p., except where they weremaintained by firing. The forest-grassland ecotone was probably ofsignificance for hunting. Pandanus expanded upwards, but not to the samedegree as the sub-alpine forest; it may have become restricted incompetition with larger tree taxa invading from lower altitudes. Theexpansion of the species-poor anthropogenic an��thro��po��gen��ic?adj.1. Of or relating to anthropogenesis.2. Caused by humans: anthropogenic degradation of the environment. mid-montane grasslands didnot compensate for the loss of the sub-alpine biome biomeLargest geographic biotic unit, a major community of plants and animals with similar requirements of environmental conditions. It includes various communities and developmental stages of communities and is named for the dominant type of vegetation, such as grassland or . Populations wouldhave had less opportunity to hunt widely in the sub-alpine, although thetree-line would have remained productive. Gain of biodiversity Pollen diagrams record the replacement of Nothofagus stands by muchmore diverse mixed forest including many taxa of economic importancesuch as Castanopsis-Lithocarpus spp., Elaeocarpus spp., and figs. Manyof these taxa have fruits that are largely relegated to animal food atpresent, but which could have been eaten by humans? The number ofsecondary species increases, suggesting more rapid forest turnover inwarmer conditions. Within this change, useful plants from loweraltitudes would also have prospered, and been adapted to systems ofplant nurture fairly easily. The appearance of complex plant management: evolution or revolution? Current evidence favours substantial landscape control, extendinginto the valleys and up on to the mountains, through the time ofchanging conditions after c. 14,000 b.p. Kuk remains the key toinferring that new methods of plant manipulation and land management,requiring substantial co-operative effort, may have been institutedvirtually as soon as warmer, drier intermontane sites became available.Golson (1991a; b) has argued the revolutionary case, stressingdiscontinuities of the Kuk features with those of the late-Pleistocenerecord and continuities with those of the subsequent Holocene -increased and sustained levels of erosion, and of swamp management bythe digging of water-disposal channels, accompanied by activity on thedrained surfaces. Certainly the palynological evidence from the latePleistocene for the prevalence of uppermontane forest and hence mistycool conditions in the Highland valleys means that almost none of thepossible crop plants would have flourished, except for Pandanus. The appearance of the Sentani grasslands also occurs at a time ofconsiderable local forest change. Montane beech and gymnospermrichforest changed to a more mixed lowland and secondary tree dominatedforest. Evidence of fire (presumably anthropogenic) correlates withenvironmental and vegetational changes which commence about 1000 yearsearlier than in most intermontane sites. Thus a response by humans toenvironmental change in the lowlands, that was quickly transmitted tothe Highlands, is a possibility, on the present sketchy evidence.Alternative views are certainly tenable ten��a��ble?adj.1. Capable of being maintained in argument; rationally defensible: a tenable theory.2. until a much strongerchronological and archaeological framework is built up. We have reviewed the evidence from Kosipe, Tari, Telefomin and theBaliem Valley for the creation and maintenance of montane clearings forsubstantial periods in the late Pleistocene. Discussing these in thelight of his palaeo-environmental research in the Tari basin, Haberle(1993b; 299-306) argues that a wider range of useful plants would havebeen available for managed exploitation, certainly in the Highlandsvalleys, than allowed by Golson (1991b), who restricts the rosteressentially to Pandanus. Haberle (1993b: 306-8) points to a significantchange in the nature of forest disturbance in the Tari record c. 14,500b.p., involving the development of re-growth taxa and suggesting theappearance of periodic forest clearance. This is seen as coincident withbut not dependent on the climatic warming which allowed mixed and swampforest taxa to colonize col��o��nize?v. col��o��nized, col��o��niz��ing, col��o��niz��esv.tr.1. To form or establish a colony or colonies in.2. To migrate to and settle in; occupy as a colony.3. the forests. Haberle thus proposes anevolutionary development whereby the evidence at Kuk, accepted asmarking the operations of agriculture, is not the result of importationsfrom lower altitudes but the product of `forcing' of establishedstrategies of plant management by the rapidly changing climate of theterminal Pleistocene. From this point on, the reconstructions of Haberle (1993b: 308) andSwadling & Hope (1992) from pollen records are essentially inagreement with Golson (e.g. Golson & Gardner 1990) from the Kukevidence. They tell a story of sustained and gradually intensifyingforest clearance under a regime of shifting cultivation, associated atKuk with periodic use of swampland covering the period from thebeginning of the Holocene to c. 2000 b.p. At this time some dramaticchanges comprise the appearance of the first in a number of innovationsin agricultural technology aimed at sustaining the productivity ofdryland cultivation in grassland environments, accompanied by a morecontinuous and intensive use of the swamp itself. These last changes clearly post-date the introduction of developedagriculture into the Bismarck Archipelago as proposed by Spriggs (inpress); they could conceivably be a reflex of the same. Golson has longargued, however, that they came as the result of an environmentaltransformation from forest to grassland brought about by millennia ofclearance for cultivation (e.g. Golson & Gardner 1990). Progressivedeforestation deforestationProcess of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agricultural use. is seen as putting at increasing risk a system of shiftingcultivation dependent on forest fallow fallowa pale cream, light fawn, or pale yellow coat color in dogs. where the staple plants areintolerant of degraded soils. In these circumstances the possession ofswamp or other land of sustainable fertility would confer a distinctadvantage. With forest destruction there would be a loss of faunalresources and an intensification of pig husbandry in compensation, inconditions, however, where natural forage was in shorter supply due todeforestation. The need for a supply of fodder from the cultivateddomain, making the pig a charge on agricultural labour, supplied thecontext for the pig to be invested with the importance as a symbol ofwealth which it has in contemporary Highlands societies.(1) The matter of New Guinea cultigens, apart from the tropicalAmerican sweet potato of recent arrival, is a difficult one and thequestion of indigenous and exogenous origins has been much debated (seeYen, this volume). There are archaeobotanical problems of recognitionand identification posed by the more important plants (e.g. Haberle1994: 189; Hather 1994). A study of banana phytoliths has discriminatedbetween the indigenous Australimusa section and the Eumusa section ofpresumed southeast Asian origin, but not between the Eumusa section andthe Ingentimusa section, which consists of a single species, theindigenous wild Musa ingens (Wilson 1985; cf. Yen, this volume). There is evidence for an early presence and separate domestication domesticationProcess of hereditary reorganization of wild animals and plants into forms more accommodating to the interests of people. In its strictest sense, it refers to the initial stage of human mastery of wild animals and plants. of Colocasia taro in the New Guinea region (Yen, this volume); it is interms of this plant as staple that the development of Highlandscultivation systems has been modelled (e.g. Golson & Gardner 1990).This modelling subsumes the `creation of agroecosystems which limitsubsistence choice because of environmental transformation or labourdemands', the definition of agriculture Spriggs (in press) adopts,and explains their appearance as the outcome of a protracted period ofshifting cultivation under forest fallow of increasingly degradedquality. Conclusions As in the rest of Sahul, the early settlers of the New GuineaHighlands adapted to their new wet and cool environments, exploitingecotonal opportunities and possibly manipulating food plants by 30,000b.p. Their interaction with large marsupials may have became fatal forthe latter as the human population grew and environmental changes putstress on upper-montane forests and grasslands. The Pleistocenesettlements seem tentatively to have occurred in the areas most favouredtoday in climate and fertility. As the higher biodiversity of loweraltitudes flooded into the Highlands after 15,000 b.p., human populationseems to have increased. Areas of cleared forest grew, except in thesub-alpine region. The relationships of the subsistence systemresponsible for this clearance to the early-Holocene situation at Kuk,and of both to late-Holocene agriculture before the entry of the sweetpotato, are matters of disagreement as regards the roles of internaldevelopments and external inputs of cultigens, cultivation techniquesand animal domesticates. The creation of human landscapes throughclearing was a constant feature, and the environmental transformationthis effected became itself a potent factor in subsistence change. Andagricultural innovations were applied to an evolving understanding ofplant manipulation and landscape management without which isolatedimported cultigens or ideas would have been ineffectual. In parallel with the Tasmanian cold forests (Porch & Allen,this volume), large areas of the New Guinea mountains have always beentoo gloomy and waterlogged to support sedentary human populations. Amajor difference with most areas of Australia is that favourable sitesin the New Guinea mountains are a good environment for plant growth inall seasons and virtually all years. The continuous settlement anddevelopment of cultivation in the major intermontane valleys providedsurplus population that has allowed less suitable locations, for examplehigh-altitude areas originally invaded by forest c. 14,000 b.p., to besettled in the last few thousand years. These core valleys emerge aspower-houses of environmental and technological adaptation since theirhuman discovery, more than 30 millennia ago. The combination of circumstances that have allowed the intermontanebasins of New Guinea to develop a complex Neolithic agriculture mayinclude both the early adaptations to the available environment andexternal influences. The adaptation to local conditions matches thesuccess of people in fitting to local conditions in the otherbiogeographic bi��o��ge��og��ra��phy?n.The study of the geographic distribution of organisms.bio��ge��og regions in Australia This is a list of regions in Australia that are not Australian states or territories. Note that the regions in this list do not necessarily have any official status. Multi-state/territorialCapital Country (ACT/NSW) . It might be argued that continuingoutside contact was the key factor that aided the New Guinea Highlandsgroups to move to agriculture in contrast to the hunter-gathererlife-styles of people living in other well-watered parts of Sahul. Butthe argument for ecological and climatic control of the transition inthe Highlands is strengthened by the apparent coincidence of increasinglandscape change there, as climate altered at the end of thePleistocene. Acknowledgements. We are grateful to Jim Allen, Chris Ballard, TimFlannery, Dave Gillieson, Pawel Gorecki, Chris Gosden, Simon Haberle,Philip Hughes, Mary-Jane Mountain, Jo Mangi, John Muke, Matthew Spriggs,Marjorie Sullivan, Pam Swadling, Peter White and Doug Yen for all thehelp and great ideas that they have given over many years. ChrisBallard, Matthew Spriggs and various contributors to this volume gavehelpful criticisms of the paper.(1) We may have to discount the pig as a long-term factor in thisargument if the implications of AMS AMS - Andrew Message System dating of pig teeth from twoHighlands sites are confirmed. This suggests that the teeth were not inprimary association with the samples which provided the original datesof 5000-6000 b.p. at Nombe and Kafiavana (pers. comm. 1995 from theexcavators, M.-J. Mountain and J.P. White respectively). ReferencesAllen, J. 1993. Notions of the Pleistocene in Greater Australia, inM, Spriggs et al. 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