Buang Merabak: Early Evidence For Human Occupation In The Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

Extract This paper reports new radiocarbon estimates for the age of human occupation of Buang Merabak, an archaeological site in central New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Previously, the oldest radiocarbon date for human occupation in New Ireland was 35,410 ± 430 BP (Leavesley and Allen 1998:80). The radiocarbon determinations reported here, although preliminary, may extend the first evidence of human occupation in New Ireland to beyond 40,000 BP (uncalibrated) and indirectly support the evidence presented by Groube et al. (1986) and Chappell et al. (1994), for the occupation of the Huon Peninsula at a similar antiquity.