The global significance of early agriculture on New Guinea

New Guinea's Kuk Early Agricultural Site challenges the notion that the island was peripheral to global agricultural developments, instead establishing it as a cradle of early agriculture comparable in antiquity to Southwest Asia, China, and Central America. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, the site provides multidisciplinary evidence demonstrating that plant exploitation practices in New Guinea evolved independently, leading to distinct agricultural traditions across Island Southeast Asia, lowland Melanesia, the highlands of New Guinea, and northern Australia. This research shifts the focus from seeking external origins to building robust regional records of plant use and interpretation frameworks.

Denham, T. (2018). The global significance of early agriculture on New Guinea. Tracing Early Agriculture in the Highlands of New Guinea, 172–176. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351115308-13