Austronesian Expansions and the Role of Mainland New Guinea: A New Perspective

Abstract

Recent archaeological discoveries of pottery on mainland New Guinea dating to 3000 years ago have drawn attention to the role of Austronesian expansions that were originally thought to have leapfrogged mainland New Guinea. A review of the evidence from recent excavations provides an assessment of the Neolithic period of New Guinea and its role in facilitating the movement of peoples from Asia into the Pacific. The absence of evidence for occupation along the north and northeast coast of mainland New Guinea is argued to be the result of geomorphological processes rather than an absence of human occupation.