ABSTRACT
This chapter presents multiple inferential lines of evidence – palaeoecology, geomorphology, pedology and archaeology – for the emergence of shifting cultivation in the highlands of New Guinea around 7000–10,000 years ago. Stone mortars and pestles have been collected across eastern New Guinea, though they are not ubiquitous and few are reported from the western half of the island. Ground stone axe-adzes were 'an important component of most tool kits in the Western Highlands' by 5000–6000 years ago and would greatly have increased the efficiency of forest clearance. Tanged blades have been reported for several sites in the New Guinea highlands including Kuk and Wanelek and those in the Wurup Valley and the eastern highlands. Within the montane rainforests of New Guinea, the transition from foraging to cultivation is marked by the transformation from the creation, exploitation and maintenance of patches to deliberate planting in plots.
