For this paper, we assembled a unique database showing the extent of linguistic diversity in PNG’s 85 rural districts in order to investigate its impact on human development . We find some evidence of a relationship between linguistic diversity and development, but a careful reading of PNG’s history suggests that it would be mistaken to interpret this as evidence of heterogeneity impeding development. Whereas some economists see linguistic diversity as having a linear relationship with the time-distance since human settlement, we argue that shifting crop cultivation technologies, warfare, disease and environmental convulsions – in tandem with time-depth – offer the better explanation. We also test and reject the fashionable hypothesis that ‘pre-colonial hierarchy’ has a strong and enduring influence over contemporary development outcomes. The first European contact with New Guinea was by Portuguese and Spanish sailors in the 16th century.
Despite decades of inquiry, the date for its initial human colonization remains a contentious issue. Some favor a 40–45,000 year (40–45 ka) BP figure , ; others one ≥60 ka , ; still others one ≫100 ka , . Resolving the matter has important implications for a wide range of questions, among them the pattern and timing of early modern human population movements out of Africa , and the role of humans in Sahul megafaunal extinctions , .
They are also considered as a barrier for hominin migration into Wallacean islands and Sahul continent. We report about new archaeological research on the eastern coast of Sulawesi, which could have been the most potential location for the early AMH migration by sea crossings from the Maluku Islands along the northern routes towards Sahul. Based on the new findings, we discuss the evidence and timeline for migrations of early modern humans into the Wallacean islands. The Kimberley region of Western Australia holds many of Australia’s oldest known archaeological sites. Here, we review the chronological and archaeological data available for the Kimberley from early Marine Isotope Stage 3 to the present, linking episodes of site establishment and the appearance of new technologies with periods of climatic and sea-level change.
A shark-tooth ornament from Pleistocene Sahul
Other studies that provide apparent support for a mass faunal extinction coincident with initial human colonization include the documented disappearance of G. Newtoni at 50±5 in south central Australia (Miller et al., 1999), and terminal dates of 45 kyr from Wet Cave at Naracoorte, South Australia (Pate et al., 2002). Prideaux et al. argue that for this reason climate change alone cannot be invoked as an explanation for the extinction of the megafauna.
During Tidore’s rule, the main exports of the island during this period were resins, spices, slaves and the highly priced feathers of the bird-of-paradise. In a period of constant conflict called ‘hongi wars’, in which rival villages or kingdoms would invoke the name of Tidore Sultan, rightly, for punitive expeditions for not fulfilling their tributary obligations, or opportunitively for competitions over resources and prestige. Sultan Nuku, one of the most famous Tidore sultans who rebelled against Dutch colonization, called himself “Sultan of Tidore and Papua”, during his revolt in 1780s. He commanded loyalty from both Moluccan and Papuan chiefs, especially those of Raja Ampat Islands, from his base in Gebe.
Nature
Ancient extinct megafaunal varieties in Sahul include a giant kangaroo , a giant bird , and a marsupial lion .
Our findings support the hypothesis that present-day Aboriginal Australians descend from the earliest humans to occupy Australia, likely representing one of the oldest continuous populations outside Africa. As with other megafaunal extinctions, the theories about what happened to them include overkill, climate change, and human-set fires. One recent series of studies suggests that the extinctions were concentrated between 50,000-40,000 years ago on mainland Australia and slightly later in Tasmania. However, also as with other megafaunal extinction studies, the evidence also shows a staggered extinction, with some as early as 400,000 years ago and the most recent about 20,000. The most likely is that extinction happened at different times for different reasons. The ancestral Austronesian peoples are believed to have arrived considerably later, approximately 3,500 years ago, as part of a gradual seafaring migration from Southeast Asia, possibly originating in Taiwan.
The majority of taxa cannot be placed within the time frame of human arrival, and many lack reliable radiometric dates altogether, with some of the taxa claimed to have been the victims of human-mediated extinction known only from the Pliocene (e.g., Euryzygoma dunense). Of those taxa known to overlap with people, some persist well beyond a previously proposed 51- to 39-ka “extinction window” , whereas most of those falling within this window are not securely linked to the dates . Of those taxa potentially surviving until more recently than ∼50 ka, almost half are from New Guinea.
The Analysis of Contingency Tables
The Japanese invaded the north shore of the Australia territories and were aiming to move south and take the southern shore too. The highlands, northern and eastern parts of the island became key battlefields in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. Notable battles were for Port Moresby , Milne Bay and for the Kakoda track. Papuans often gave vital assistance to the Allies, fighting alongside Australian troops, and carrying www.datingmentor.net/stranger-meetup-review equipment and injured men across New Guinea. Approximately 216,000 Japanese, Australian and U.S. soldiers, sailors and airmen died during the New Guinea Campaign. Stretching for hundreds of kilometres, these include lowland rainforests, extensive wetlands, savanna grasslands, and some of the largest expanses of mangrove forest in the world. The southern lowlands are the site of Lorentz National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We report optical ages showing human occupation of Widgingarri 1, a rockshelter located on the Kimberley coast of northwest Australia, as early as 50,000 years ago, when the site was located more than 100 km from the Late Pleistocene coastline. We also present the first detailed analysis of the stone artefacts, including flakes from ground stone axes, grinding stones and ground haematite recovered from the deepest excavated layer. The high proportion of flakes from ground axe production and resharpening in the earliest occupation phase emphasises the importance of this complex technology in the first peopling of northern Sahul. Artefact analyses indicate changes in settlement patterns through time, with an increase in mobility in the terminal Pleistocene and a shift to lower mobility during the late Holocene. The optical ages for Widgingarri 1 mean that the Kimberley now contains the greatest number of sites in Sahul with earliest occupation dated to more than 46,000 years ago, overlapping with the time of initial occupation of sites in other regions across the continent.
Dating and stratigraphical examination of individual hearth features demonstrates that even within individual stratigraphic units, human occupation persisted under variable conditions. Mid-Holocene occupation of the area following the final lake retreat took place during a period of relatively humid climate. The island of New Guinea lies to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago. When world sea levels were low, the two shared shorelines , and combined with lands now inundated into the tectonic continent of Sahul, also known as Greater Australia. The two landmasses became separated when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the end of the last glacial period.