Papua New Guinea highland research redates Neolithic period

via EurekaAlerts, 17 April 2020: News release from the University of Otago on a new paper in Science Advances (see earlier post here) that suggests the emergence of the Neolithic and agriculture in Papua New Guinea at around 5,000 BP.

A new report published in Science Advances on the emergence of agriculture in highland Papua New Guinea shows advancements often associated with a later Neolithic period occurred about 1000 years’ earlier than previously thought.

University of Otago Archaeology Programme Professor and report co-author Glenn Summerhayes says findings in Emergence of a Neolithic in highland New Guinea by 5000 to 4000 years ago, provide insights into when and how the highlands were first occupied; the role of economic plants in this process; the development of trade routes which led to the translocation of plants and technologies; and an associated record of landscape, environment and climate change through time.

Source: Papua New Guinea highland research redates Neolithic period | EurekAlert! Science News