Coastal development and palaeoenvironment on the north coast of Papua New Guinea: the Paniri Creek sequence

Summary

Pleistocene-Holocene environmental variance in the southwestern Pacific plays a critical role in explaining the human settlement potential of islands, and their respective settlement histories. In particular, prevalence of viable ecological niches for human settlement on the northern coast of New Guinea has likely fluctuated due to a combination of eustatic and tectonic factors that may have constrained the size of human populations living there as well as its potential as a route of movement between ISEA and the remote Pacific islands at times. We examine a long-term record of coastal development at Paniri Creek, a location now 14km inland from which near-coastal deposits and human remains were recovered during the 1920s. Our new analysis of the Paniri sequence indicates a complex sequence of environmental change spanning the late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene, including potential palaeo-shore deposits. Implications of observed changes in coastal morphology and environment are discussed in relation to the regional archaeological record as currently understood.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Model Environments: Human Ecodynamics on Islands

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