Historical agricultural landscape of Kuk
| Historical agricultural landscape of Kuk | |
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UNESCO world heritage 
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| Satellite image of the Kuk swamp region |
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| National territory: |
 Papua New Guinea
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| Type: | Culture |
| Criteria : | iii, iv |
| Reference No .: | 887 |
| UNESCO region : | Asia and Pacific |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 2008 (session 32) |
The Historical Agricultural Landscape of Kuk (Kuk Early Agricultural Site) is an archaeological site in the swamp region of Kuk , in the southern highlands of the island of New Guinea . The World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO declared the area in 2008 under the name Kuk Swamp to the first World Heritage Site in Papua New Guinea .
location
The historic agricultural landscape of Kuk is located in the southern highlands of the island of New Guinea , in the Papua-New Guinean province of Western Highlands . The site is located 12 km northeast of Mount Hagen in the Upper Wahgital, one of the largest valleys in the mountain region north of the Kubor Mountains, at an altitude of 1550 m above sea level .
exploration
The archaeological site on the site of the former tea plantation in Wahgital, used as an agricultural research station (Kuk Agricultural Research Station) , was discovered in 1969 by the Australian archaeologist Jim Allen. From 1972 to 1977 Jack Golson of the Australian National University carried out extensive archaeological investigations at the site in the Kuk swamp. In 1998 and 1999, excavations and research by a team of scientists led by Tim Denham from the Archaeological Institute at Flinders University , Australia , showed that the land had been cultivated for the past 7,000 years, and possibly 10,000 years. During the excavation, the researchers found traces of slash and burn and individual planting holes that were dated to an age of over 10,000 years. They also discovered evidence of fields 7,000 years old and networks of drainage ditches that were dug around 4,000 years ago. Vegetable remains show that mainly taro , sugar cane and bananas were planted. Traces of taro starch were found on the working edges of three stone tools . By analyzing phytoliths , Denham's team was able to prove that the banana species Musa ingens and Musa acuminata were in the 5th millennium BC. Chr. In the region Kuk first cultivated were.
meaning
The highlands of Papua New Guinea are one of the few places in the world where agriculture developed independently of other cultures. The well-preserved archaeological finds prove the technological leap from plant use to agriculture 6500 years ago. By 2003, many scientists had assumed that agriculture had been brought to New Guinea from other parts of Asia . “The findings in Kuk confirm that New Guinea was a primary center of agricultural development and plant cultivation before any known Southeast Asian influence,” explained Tim Denham. Kuk is one of the few archaeological sites in the world that allows conclusions to be drawn about the practice and further development of agricultural techniques over such a long period of time.
In 2006, Papua New Guinea nominated the agricultural landscape of Kuk for inclusion in the World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO , at its 32nd session from 2 to 10 July, 2008. Quebec , Canada , an area of 116 hectares under the name Kuk Swamp to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
population
The local population of the Kawelka tribe had given up and left the area around 1910 after being defeated in a tribal war. All signs of previous cultivation were hidden under a thick sod. In 1968 the Kawelka clan chiefs leased the marshland for 99 years to the Australian civil administration of the UN trustee mandate for Papua and New Guinea . The Australian Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries (DASF) founded the Kuk Tea Research Station in 1969 , which soon expanded its research activities to include other crops and was renamed the Kuk Agricultural Research Station . The drainage work to expand the cultivation areas in the late 1960s and early 1970s caused only minor disturbances to the site. After the research station was closed in the early 1990s, members of the Kawelka tribe returned and grew sweet potatoes , bananas and coffee in the area of the former plantation . They voluntarily pledged to protect the archaeological sites, to leave certain areas uncultivated and to restrict cultivation in other areas.
tourism
There are plans to open the world heritage site to upscale cultural tourism. For example, a visitor center was set up that uses display boards to provide information about the development of the area and the development of arable farming in the region. In addition, guided tours are offered to the excavation site, where old cultural plant remains were found. In August 2015, the first groups of visitors were able to visit the World Heritage site. However, official government approval for the tourism project is currently missing.
See also
literature
Jack Golson: No room at the top: agricultural intensification in the New Guinea Highlands. In: Jim Allen, Jack Golson, R. Jones: Sunda and Sahul: prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia London , Academic Press, New York 1977 pp. 601-638, ISBN 0-12-051250-5 .
Web links
- John Roach: What about Papua New Guinea's Early Agriculture Pioneer? National Geographic June 23, 2003
- UNESCO World Heritage Center: Eight new sites, from the Straits of Malacca, to Papua New Guinea and San Marino, added to UNESCO's World Heritage List
- Agriculture in New Guinea 10,000 years ago Der Spiegel June 22, 2003
Individual evidence
- ^ Jack Golson and the investigation of prehistoric agriculture in Highland New Guinea: recent work and future prospects. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Archeology in Oceania, 2003.
- ↑ Tim Denham Monash Research Fellow (2006-2012) ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Monash University .
- ↑ a b c d e Tim P. Denham et al .: Origins of Agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of New Guinea (PDF; 453 kB) Science Volume 301, No. 5630, July 11, 2003, pp. 189-193 .
- ↑ a b c UNESCO, World Heritage Committee, Kuk Early Agricultural Site, Nomination file .
- ↑ C. Lentfer, W. Boyd: Tracing antiquity of banana cultivation in Papua New Guinea. Center for Geoarchaeology and Palaeoenvironmental Research Southern Cross University , Lismore
- ↑ Agriculture in New Guinea 10,000 years ago Der Spiegel from June 22, 2003.
- ↑ Hale Lahui: State of safeguarding PNG's intangible cultural heritage ( MS Word ; 97 kB) Port Moresby 2008.
- ^ UNESCO, World Heritage Committee, Kuk Early Agricultural Site, Decision .
- ^ Steven Mithen: After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000-5000 BC Harvard University Press p. 341, ISBN 0-674-01999-7 .
- ↑ Tim Denham: A world cradle of agriculture ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. UNESCO Courier No. 6 2008, ISSN 1993-8616 .
Coordinates: 5 ° 47 ′ 1.4 ″ S , 144 ° 19 ′ 54.2 ″ E