Sediments or soils? Multi-scale geoarchaeological investigations of stratigraphy and early cultivation practices at Kuk Swamp, highlands of Papua New Guinea

QEMSCAN® analysis of clay-rich stratigraphy associated with early agricultural contexts at Kuk Swamp, Papua New Guinea

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The generalised stratigraphic profile at Kuk (Fig. 2A, Table 1) comprises organic-rich Pleistocene sediments overlain by clay-rich Holocene sediments (Denham 2003a;Denham and Grono 2017;Hughes et al 2017). The major sedimentary units of most relevance here are:• 'black organic clay' (field designation) [Context 7] -a very dark grey to black (10YR 3/1 to 2.5Y 2.5/1 and 3/1), organic-rich clay, massive structure, deposited from c. 20,000 cal BP to c. 10, 000 cal BP; • 'grey clay' (field designation) [Context 5] -a dark grey to brown (10YR 4/1 to 7.5YR 4/2), clay, massive structure, deposited from c. 10,000 cal BP to c. 7000 cal BP; • 'black clay' (field designation) [Context 4] -a black (10YR 2/1 to 2.5Y 2.5/1), clay, massive structure, deposited from c. 7000 cal BP to 2500 cal BP; and, • 'crumby black' (field designation) [Context 3] -a black (10YR 2/1 to 2.5Y 2.5/1), clay to silty clay loam, spheroidal aggregate structure, deposited after 2500 cal BP and underlies current zone of cultivation within soil profile.

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“…The generalised stratigraphic profile at Kuk (Fig. 2A, Table 1) comprises organic-rich Pleistocene sediments overlain by clay-rich Holocene sediments (Denham 2003a;Denham and Grono 2017;Hughes et al 2017). The major sedimentary units of most relevance here are:…”

The influence of emergency food aid on the causal disaster vulnerability of remote Indigenous food systems: a case study of the Bedamuni of Western Province, Papua New Guinea

“…Trading was well established between islands on the north coast of Sahul, for example, with obsidian found 300km away from source locations, which demonstrates economic connectedness . Moreover, significant mobility and extensive trade acted as an adaptation to a constantly changing environment, including hazard driven transitory food insecurity (e.g., Denham 2017). Elaborate kinship networks and trading as a form of redundancy in food systems has been documented in contemporary Pacific societies (e.g., Campbell 2006).…”

“…While permanent plant exploitation is observed ~10,000 BP, the independent development of agriculture is suggested to date between 6,000 and 7,000 BPperhaps earlier ( Roberts et al 2017). Agriculture in New Guinea is primarily vegetative rather than seed based and did not involve the domestication of animals, which arrived into the Highlands within the last 3,000 years from southeast Asian origin (Denham 2017, Roberts et al 2017).…”

“…The Lapita advance saw the introduction of new languages, cultural practices, domestic animals (e.g., pigs, chickens), crops (e.g., gourds), and technologies (e.g., pottery, agricultural tools) (Denham 2017, Gaffney et al 2015. Animals such as pigs, dogs, chickens, and the pacific rat reshaped food systems in New Guinea.…”