School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Sci Adv. 2020 Mar 25;6(13):eaay4573. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay4573. eCollection 2020 Mar.
The emergence of agriculture was one of the most notable behavioral transformations in human history, driving innovations in technologies and settlement globally, referred to as the Neolithic. Wetland agriculture originated in the New Guinea highlands during the mid-Holocene (8000 to 4000 years ago), yet it is unclear if there was associated behavioral change. Here, we report the earliest figurative stone carving and formally manufactured pestles in Oceania, dating to 5050 to 4200 years ago. These discoveries, at the highland site of Waim, occur with the earliest planilateral axe-adzes in New Guinea, the first evidence for fibercraft, and interisland obsidian transfer. The combination of symbolic social systems, complex technologies, and highland agricultural intensification supports an independent emergence of a Neolithic ~1000 years before the arrival of Neolithic migrants (Lapita) from Southeast Asia.
农业的出现是人类历史上最显著的行为转变之一，推动了全球技术和定居点的创新，这被称为新石器时代。湿地农业起源于全新世中期（距今 8000 至 4000 年前）的新几内亚高地，但尚不清楚是否存在相关的行为变化。在这里，我们报告了大洋洲最早的具象石雕和正式制造的杵，可追溯到 5050 至 4200 年前。这些在高地遗址 Waim 的发现，与新几内亚最早的扁侧斧锄、纤维工艺以及跨岛黑曜石交换同时出现。符号社会系统、复杂技术和高地农业集约化的结合，支持了新石器时代的独立出现，比来自东南亚的新石器时代移民（拉皮塔人）早了约 1000 年。
