Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean
- The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean
- The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume I
- Frontispiece
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Preface to Volume I
- Part I Rethinking the Pacific
- Part II Humans and the Natural World in the Pacific Ocean
- Part III Deep Time: Sources for the Ancient History of the Pacific
- Part IV The Initial Colonization of the Pacific
- 16 Pleistocene Voyaging and Maritime Dispersals in the Pacific
- 17 Early Maritime Navigation and Cultures in Coastal Southern China, Taiwan, and Island Southeast Asia, 6000–500 BCE
- 18 New Guinea’s Past: The Last 50,000 Years
- 19 Austronesian Colonization of the Pacific Islands, 1200 bce–1250 ce
- 20 Seafaring and Colonization in the Southern Ocean, 1000 ce–1850 ce
- 21 Polynesians in Central-South Chile
- Part V The Evolution of Pacific Communities
- Part VI Europe’s Maritime Expansion into the Pacific
- References to Volume I
- Index
18 - New Guinea’s Past: The Last 50,000 Years
from Part IV - The Initial Colonization of the Pacific
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2022
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean
- The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean
- The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume I
- Frontispiece
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Preface to Volume I
- Part I Rethinking the Pacific
- Part II Humans and the Natural World in the Pacific Ocean
- Part III Deep Time: Sources for the Ancient History of the Pacific
- Part IV The Initial Colonization of the Pacific
- 16 Pleistocene Voyaging and Maritime Dispersals in the Pacific
- 17 Early Maritime Navigation and Cultures in Coastal Southern China, Taiwan, and Island Southeast Asia, 6000–500 BCE
- 18 New Guinea’s Past: The Last 50,000 Years
- 19 Austronesian Colonization of the Pacific Islands, 1200 bce–1250 ce
- 20 Seafaring and Colonization in the Southern Ocean, 1000 ce–1850 ce
- 21 Polynesians in Central-South Chile
- Part V The Evolution of Pacific Communities
- Part VI Europe’s Maritime Expansion into the Pacific
- References to Volume I
- Index
Summary
For over 50,000 years the island of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago formed an important link between Asia and the Pacific. The region not only has evidence for some of the earliest occupation of modern humans outside of Africa, but also demonstrates early agriculture some 10,000 years ago. This region was also an important link providing a staging point for Austronesian movements of people into the Pacific some three millennia ago. This rich 50,000-year-old history is evident in the nearly 10 million people of New Guinea today, speaking over 800 languages.
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- The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean , pp. 406 - 433Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
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