Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene sites in the montane forests of New Guinea yield early record of cassowary hunting and egg harvesting

Abstract

How early human foragers impacted insular forests is a topic with implications across multiple disciplines, including resource management. Paradoxically, terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene impacts of foraging communities have been characterized as both extreme—as in debates over human-driven faunal extinctions—and minimal compared to later landscape transformations by farmers and herders. We investigated how rainforest hunter-gatherers managed resources in montane New Guinea and present some of the earliest documentation of Late Pleistocene through mid-Holocene exploitation of cassowaries (Aves: Casuariidae). Worldwide, most insular ratites were extirpated by the Late Holocene, following human arrivals, including elephant birds of Madagascar (Aepyornithidae) and moa of Aotearoa/New Zealand (Dinornithiformes)—icons of anthropogenic island devastation. Cassowaries are exceptional, however, with populations persisting in New Guinea and Australia. Little is known of past human exploitation and what factors contributed to their survival. We present a method for inferring past human interaction with mega-avifauna via analysis of microstructural features of archaeological eggshell. We then contextualize cassowary hunting and egg harvesting by montane foragers and discuss the implications of human exploitation. Our data suggest cassowary egg harvesting may have been more common than the harvesting of adults. Furthermore, our analysis of cassowary eggshell microstructural variation reveals a distinct pattern of harvesting eggs in late ontogenetic stages. Harvesting eggs in later stages of embryonic growth may reflect human dietary preferences and foraging seasonality, but the observed pattern also supports the possibility that—as early as the Late Pleistocene—people were collecting eggs in order to hatch and rear cassowary chicks.

Microstructural and crystallographic evolution of palaeognath (Aves) eggshells

“…identification, harvest timing of egg, and biostratigraphy) about the interactions between early human, specific palaeognath avifauna, palaeoenvironments, and the precise age of palaeognath eggshell materials (e.g. Harrison and Msuya, 2005 ; Loewy et al, 2020 ; Niespolo et al, 2021 ; Douglass et al, 2021a ; Douglass et al, 2021b ). For this, a solid understanding for microstructural evolution of modern palaeognath eggshells can be a helpful basis.…”

Microstructural and crystallographic evolution of palaeognath (Aves) eggshells

“…identification, harvest timing of egg, and biostratigraphy) about the interactions between early human, specific palaeognath avifauna, palaeoenvironments, and the precise age of palaeognath eggshell materials (e.g. Harrison and Msuya, 2005; Loewy et al, 2020; Niespolo et al, 2021; Douglass et al, 2021a, b). For this, a solid understanding for microstructural evolution of modern palaeognath eggshells can be a helpful basis.…”

Rock Art and (Re)Production of Narratives: A Cassowary Bone Dagger Stencil Perspective from Auwim, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea

“…Furthermore, recent analysis into cassowary eggshell microstructural variation from the Highlands region has revealed a distinct pattern of harvesting eggs which may reflect human dietary preferences and hunting seasonality (Douglass et al . 2021). Altogether, these sites show evidence of human–cassowary interactions from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene (Douglass et al .…”

“…Altogether, these sites show evidence of human–cassowary interactions from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene (Douglass et al . 2021, 50–53) which could possibly suggest their bones have also been worked into tools.…”

“…1). In the nearby Highlands region, cassowary eggshell microstructural analysis has revealed the possibility of avian husbandry to be as early as the Late Pleistocene with a possibility of people collecting eggs to hatch and rear cassowary chicks (Douglass et al 2021). They have also suggested that New Guinea Highlanders practised the earliest known occurrence of avian husbandry which possibly predates Auwim.…”