Tracing Domestication and Cultivation of Bananas from Phytoliths: An update from Papua New Guinea

researchThere is now good evidence from current banana distributions and genetic analysis that Papua New Guinea and nearby regions have played a key role in the domestication of edible Eumusa and Australimusa bananas. Strong support for this also comes from phytoliths in the archaeobotanical record. Seeds have diagnostic phytoliths which can be used to discriminate between the two main sections of edible bananas, the giant banana, Musa ingens, and Ensete. Therefore, the presence of seed phytoliths and their subsequent disappearance from archaeological assemblages can be used to trace processes of domestication leading to parthenocarpy and sterility. Following loss of viable seeds, banana presence can still be documented from phytolith morphotypes from other plant parts, particularly the volcaniform morphotypes from leaves. Nevertheless, according to several pioneer studies, these are more difficult to differentiate unless they occur in regions where certain species or varieties of bananas are not endemic. This paper reviews results from morphometric and morphotypic analyses of Musaceae phytoliths and briefly introduces the ‘New Guinea Banana Project’ which builds upon previous analyses. The morphometric database, combined with a comprehensive set of images, facilitates banana phytolith identification and is another step forward in solving the issues surrounding banana dispersal, cultivation and domestication, especially in the Pacific/New Guinea region

Going Bananas in Papua New Guinea: A preliminary study of starch granule morphotypes in Musaceae fruit

researchStarch granules can be well preserved in a variety of archaeological contexts, for example, in residues and sediments. Therefore, starch analysis has potential to provide another means of tracking the exploitation, dispersal and domestication of Musa bananas and Ensete. Starch granule morphotypes from fruits of Ensete glaucum and wild and cultivated Australimusa and Eumusa bananas were analyzed in this preliminary study. Numerous starch granule morphotypes were present in every sample analyzed. One hundred and nine morphotypes, representing 38 morphotype groups (variants) were described. Of these, several are specific to the samples analyzed and others occurred in more than one sample. They can be used to discriminate between different genera, sections, species and cultivars. Raphides were also numerous in wild Australimusa bananas. Although additional studies are required to determine levels of specificity, this preliminary study shows that starch analysis (and raphide presence and abundance) can be used in a similar way to phytolith analysis in the identification of Musaceae and has extremely good potential as a tool for tracing the prehistory of bananas in the archaeological record

New evidence and revised interpretations of early agriculture in Highland New Guinea

This review of the evidence for early agriculture in New Guinea supported by new data from Kuk Swamp demonstrates that cultivation had begun there by at least 6950-6440 cal BP and probably much earlier. Contrary to previous ideas, the first farming in New Guinea was not owed to South-East Asia, but emerged independently in the Highlands. Indeed plants such as the banana were probably first domesticated in New Guinea and later diffused into the Asian continent

Pressure flaking to serrate bifacial points for the hunt during the MIS5 at Sibudu Cave (South Africa)

Projectile technology is considered to appear early in the southern African Middle Stone Age (MSA) and the rich and high resolution MSA sequence of Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal has provided many new insights about the use and hafting of various projectile forms. We present the results of a functional and technological analysis on a series of unpublished serrated bifacial points recently recovered from the basal deposits of Sibudu Cave. These serrated tools, which only find equivalents in the neighbouring site of Umhlatuzana, precede the Still Bay techno-complex and are older than 77 ka BP. Independent residue and use-wear analyses were performed in a phased procedure involving two separate analysts, which allowed the engagement between two separate lines of functional evidence. Thanks to the excellent preservation at Sibudu Cave, a wide range of animal, plant and mineral residues were observed in direct relation with diagnostic wear patterns. The combination of technological, wear and residue evidence allowed us to confirm that the serration was manufactured with bone compressors and that the serrated points were mounted with a composite adhesive as the tips of projectiles used in hunting activities. The suite of technological and functional data pushes back the evidence for the use of pressure flaking during the MSA and highlights the diversity of the technical innovations adopted by southern African MSA populations. We suggest the serrated points from the stratigraphic units Adam to Darya of Sibudu illustrate one important technological adaptation of the southern African MSA and provide another example of the variability of MSA bifacial technologies

Phytolith analysis for a wet tropical environment: methodological issues and implications for the archaelology of Garua island, West New Britain, P.N.G

The archaeology of prehistoric occupation of the island of Garua, West New Britain, is beginning to provide a detailed picture of human adaptation to a highly volatile environment in which periodic catastrophic destruction of vegetation, soils and, presumably, human habitation, is countered, apparently, by the human ability to recolonise and adapt to changing circumstances. However, our ability to fully identify these human responses is presently limited by a lack of paleoenvironmental data. This wet tropical region presents specific problems in obtaining and analysing such data. In this case these problems are in part being overcome by the use of fossil phytolith analysis. However, to put this technique into use, several methodological issues have had to be addressed. This paper considers several of these, describing experiments testing preparation techniques, introducing key elements influencing assemblage compositions in this environment, and outlining the form of statistical analyses adapted and adopted to interrogate the large multivariate data set. Results are described from tests using modern analogue samples, which indicate promise in the ability of the analytical techniques to identify and differentiate key indicators of the complex and dynamic environment of prehistoric West New Britain

Human history and palaeoenvironmental change at Site 17, Freshwater Beach, Lizard Island, northeast Queensland, Australia

Late Holocene patterns of change in occupation and use of islands along the eastern coast of Queensland have long been debated in terms of various drivers, though much of this discussion relates to regions south of Cairns, with comparatively little study of the far northern Great Barrier Reef islands. The numerous middens, stone arrangements and art sites on Lizard Island suggest long-term use by Indigenous people, but recent discoveries of pottery give tantalising glimpses of a prehistoric past that may have included a prehistoric economy involving pottery. Here we review previous archaeological surveys and studies on Lizard Island and report on new archaeological and palaeoenvironmental studies from the Site 17 midden at Freshwater Beach, with an oldest date of 3815–3571 cal BP. We identify two major changes in the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records, one associated with more recent European influences and the other at c.2000 cal BP. Pottery from the intertidal zone is as yet undated. When dates become available the relationship between the Site 17 results reported here and the use of pottery on the island may be clarified