Carol Lentfer

Multidisciplinary perspectives on banana (Musa spp.) domestication

Original multidisciplinary research hereby clarifies the complex geodomestication pathways that generated the vast range of banana cultivars (cvs). Genetic analyses identify the wild ancestors of modern-day cvs and elucidate several key stages of domestication for different cv groups. Archaeology and linguistics shed light on the historical roles of people in the movement and cultivation of bananas from New Guinea to West Africa during the Holocene. The historical reconstruction of domestication processes is essential for breeding programs seeking to diversify and improve banana cvs for the future.

New Evidence and Revised Interpretations of Early Agriculture in Highland New Guinea

This review of the evidence for early agriculture in New Guinea supported by new data from Kuk Swamp demonstrates that cultivation had begun there by at least 6950-6440 cal BP and probably much earlier. Contrary to previous ideas, the first farming in New Guinea was not owed to SouthEast Asia, but emerged independently in the Highlands. Indeed plants such as the banana were probably first domesticated in New Guinea and later diffused into the Asian continent.

Phytolith analysis for a wet tropics environment: Methodological issues and implications for the archaeology of Garua island, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Abstract The archaeology of prehistoric occupation of the island of Garua, West New Britain, is beginning to provide a detailed picture of human adaptation to a highly volatile environment in which periodic catastrophic destruction of vegetation, soils and, presumably, human habitation, is countered, apparently, by the human ability to recolonise and adapt to changing circumstances. However, our ability to fully identify these human responses is presently limited by a lack of paleoenvironmental data. This wet tropical region presents specific problems in obtaining and analysing such data. In this case these problems are in part being overcome by the use of fossil phytolith analysis. However, to put this technique into use, several methodological issues have had to be addressed. This paper considers several of these, describing experiments testing preparation techniques, introducing key elements influencing assemblage compositions in this environment, and outlining the form of statistical analyses adapted ...

Forest disturbance, arboriculture and the adoption of rice in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Holocene vegetation records are presented from palaeochannels in the southern Kelabit Highlands, at Pa’Dalih (PDH 212) and at Pa’Buda (BPG), and from a peat bog in the northern Kelabit Highlands, at Bario (Ba). Results are based on changes in the sediment lithology, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility, pollen, phytoliths and other palynomorphs. At Pa’Buda, possible clearance occurred ~6500 cal. BP, perhaps for arboriculture. More pronounced signatures of clearance are at PDH 212 by ~3100 cal. BP, and at Ba by 1300 cal. BP. Propagation/cultivation of the sago palm, Eugeissona, may have been taking place by ~2800 cal. BP at site PDH 212 and was probably taking place by at least 1300 cal. BP at Ba. Rice cultivation may have been taking place between 2800 and 1200 cal. BP at PDH 212, but this remains speculative, due to the morphological features of the Oryza bulliforms, but it was likely taking place at Pa’Dalih by 530–490 cal. BP, where Oryza bulliforms, with characteristics similar to domesticated types are present, and there was a sharp rise in sedimentation, caused by intense burning. At Ba, within the last 600 years, an increase in Palmae phytoliths may signify increasingly intense human impact. In more recent times, both rice and banana cultivation are represented in the phytolith record at Pa’Buda.

Archaeobotany in Australia and New Guinea: practice, potential and prospects

Abstract Archaeobotany is the study of plant remains from archaeological contexts. Despite Australasian research being at the forefront of several methodological innovations over the last three decades, archaeobotany is now a relatively peripheral concern to most archaeological projects in Australia and New Guinea. In this paper, many practicing archaeobotanists working in these regions argue for a more central role for archaeobotany in standard archaeological practice. An overview of archaeobotanical techniques and applications is presented, the potential for archaeobotany to address key historical research questions is indicated, and initiatives designed to promote archaeobotany and improve current practices are outlined.

A Pre-Lapita Structure at Apalo, Arawe Islands, Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT Stilt structures in the inter-tidal zone or over shallow water on fringing reefs are widely accepted as a feature of settlements of the Lapita cultural complex in Near Oceania. Claims for similar structures in a pre-Lapita context at the Apalo site in the Arawe Islands, New Britain, Papua New Guinea, have been queried on several grounds. Re-evaluation of the Apalo evidence, together with 10 additional AMS radiocarbon dates, establishes human activity associated with some form of structure and possibly with a ground stone axe about 400–500 years before the Lapita pottery occupation. The paucity of occupational refuse suggests a non-residential structure perhaps associated with water transport. Comparisons with the older Dongan midden site in the Sepik-Ramu basin suggest stilt structures were probably used there as well. An apparent shift in depositional processes between the pre-Lapita and Lapita use of Apalo could reflect changed sea conditions arising from increased ENSO activity.