Paper short abstract:

The long-term chronology for cultivation practices and crop plants extends back c. 7000-6400 years in the Highlands of New Guinea. This historical narrative provides the context for understanding contemporary agricultural challenges, including loss of crop biodiversity and traditional knowledge.

Paper long abstract:

The chronology of agricultural innovation in the Highlands of New Guinea extends back at least 7000-6400 cal BP, and possibly much earlier. Here, the long-term chronology of agronomic practices is presented to indicate an expanding repertoire in forms of plant exploitation through time. The practical narrative is augmented by archaeobotanical traces of the plants cultivated at different points in time, which suggest repeated experimentation, adoption of introduced plants and re-adjustment to social needs through time.

Against this long-term historical backdrop of complexification, expansion and intensification, recent trends in Highlands’ agriculture can be viewed as a reduction in the range of crops grown, as well as in the varieties of individual crops, which mirrors a loss of oral knowledge and social practices associated with traditional cultivars. Such trends are not new, they occurred in the past, most notably following the widespread adoption of the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) within the last few hundred years. Yet, the rate of change has accelerated as Highland communities have faced new socio-economic challenges over the last several decades, which are set to become more acute into the future.