Editing History of Papua New Guinea (section)

==Archaeology==
{{See also|Ambum stone}}
[[File:Oceania UN Geoscheme - Map of Melanesia.svg|thumb|350px|Regions of [[Oceania]]: [[Australasia]], [[Polynesia]], [[Micronesia]], and [[Melanesia]]. [[Australasia]] include the [[Australia (landmass)|Australian landmass]] (including [[Tasmania]]), [[New Zealand]], and [[New Guinea]].]]
Archaeological evidence indicates that humans arrived on New Guinea perhaps 60,000 years ago, although this is under debate.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.anthro.utah.edu/PDFs/Papers/JAS%3DOC%26A.pdf|title=Dating the colonization of Sahul (Pleistocene Australia–New Guinea): a review of recent research|author=J.F. O’Connella, J. Allen|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|volume=31|issue=6|doi=10.1016/j.jas.2003.11.005|pages=835–853|date=9 November 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103111901/http://www.anthro.utah.edu/PDFs/Papers/JAS%3DOC%26A.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Peopling of Sahul: mtDNA Variation in Aboriginal Australian and Papua New Guinean Populations|author=Alan J. Redd1, Mark Stoneking|journal=American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=65|issue=3|date=September 1999|pages=808–828|doi=10.1086/302533|pmid=10441589|pmc=1377989}}</ref> They came probably by sea from [[Southeast Asia]] during the [[Last Glacial Period]], when the sea was lower and distances between islands shorter. Although the first arrivals were hunters and gatherers, early evidence shows that people managed the forest environment to provide food. There also are indications of [[Neolithic]] gardening having been practiced at [[Kuk (New Guinea)|Kuk]] at the same time that agriculture was developing in [[Mesopotamia]] and [[Egypt]]. Today's staples&nbsp;– sweet potatoes and pigs&nbsp;– were later arrivals, but shellfish and fish have long been mainstays of coastal dwellers' diets. Recent archaeological research suggests that 50,000 years ago people may have occupied sites in the highlands at altitudes of up to {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, rather than being restricted to warmer coastal areas.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-png-humans-idUSTRE68T4X620100930
|work=Reuters
|date=30 September 2010
|title=Early humans lived in PNG highlands 50,000 years ago
}}</ref>