ABSTRACT
Discussions of agricultural origins and relationships in the South Pacific have traditionally been carried out within a framework of assumptions to which eminent botanists and geographers over the years have explicitly subscribed. In the light of wider array of evidence, claims for agriculture in the Kuk swamp back to about 6000 years ago were fully acceptable. Pig, an animal not native to New Guinea, was well attested in the archaeological record about this date or slightly later, and throughout the Pacific, in general, pigs and agriculture go hand in hand. Given the absence of botanical remains, the approach was perforce to inspect range of traditional crops cultivated in New Guinea gardens and make some sort of intelligent choice. The hypothesis which Yen puts forward is one of the independent origins and development of agriculture in New Guinea, based on domestication of suite of plants that included basic staples, vegetables, and fruits able to sustain populations in various environments.
