Kuk Early Agricultural Site

Kuk

Papua New Guinea · Western Highlands

SettlementUnknownUNESCO · 2008
Approximate period8,000 BCE — 1,900 CEHolocene; land use from approximately 10,000 years ago onward See on the map ↓

In brief

Excavations at Kuk Swamp have revealed that wetlands were modified for agriculture in stages. Cultivation mounds and drainage systems are important evidence of the independent development of agriculture in New Guinea. Residential remains have also been investigated at the site alongside evidence of farming.

What was found?

  • 1Drainage ditches

    Ancient ditches dug to drain water from swampy land. Their changing layouts across different phases show how agricultural methods transformed over time.

  • 2Cultivation mounds

    Traces of raised planting arrangements for growing plants on wet land. UNESCO considers these among the agricultural practices preceding ditch drainage systems.

  • 3Wooden digging sticks

    Wooden digging sticks of different lengths have been found at Kuk. They provide direct examples of tools used to work the soil.

  • 4House remains and wooden stakes

    House remains, structural timbers, and fence stakes from the settlement's later phases have been identified. These allow the relationship between agricultural land and settlement areas to be examined.

What does it point to?

Kuk shows that people transformed a swamp environment into productive land through prolonged modification. According to researchers, the findings support the independent development of agriculture in New Guinea; tools and structures from different phases should not be considered contemporary.

What did it teach us?

  1. Provided evidence that New Guinea was one of the regions where agriculture developed independently.
  2. Documented the transition from plant exploitation to agriculture approximately 6,500 years ago.
  3. Revealed technical change from cultivation mounds to extensive drainage ditches.

Images

Kuk New Guinea 2002
NASA: JPL · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
New Guinea highland farming communities
Team / historical
Australian National University; Tim Denham for the most recently documented work in 1998–1999
Coordinates
-5.7837°, 144.3317°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. press-files.anu.edu.au
  3. archives.anu.edu.au
  4. ANU Press — Kuk buluntularının keşfi ve korunması
  5. ANU Press — Ahşap buluntular

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