History of Agriculture

The history of agriculture in PNG is about 10 000 years old. This history is reviewed here in the context of 50 000 years of human occupation of the Australia – New Guinea region. 1 More is known about what has happened nearer to the present, especially since 1870, than about the distant past. Much of the early history (prehistory) of PNG was unknown until about 50 years ago, but since 1959 there has been a lot of research on the prehistory of PNG, with a major focus on agriculture. However, this is a rapidly evolving field of study and our understanding of the history of agriculture in PNG is still incomplete. The information that is summarised here will be expanded and modified by future research.