Last Glacial Maximum Human Occupation in West New Guinea: Evidence from Andarewa

Bau Mene1*, Adi Dian Setiawan2, Dylan Gaffney3, Thomas Prince3, and Ben Utting4

1Balai Pelestarian Kebudayaan Papua, Indonesia; 2National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia; 3University of Oxford, United Kingdom; 4University of Connecticut, USA; *baumene83@gmail.com

The Pleistocene archaeology of West Papua is critical for understanding broader population movements into and around Sahul. Currently, only a small number of early sites are known from the territory, limiting our understanding of human behaviour and adaptation at millennial scales. This paper describes an ongoing research project at the Andarewa Cave site around the Bomberai Peninsula, on the Bird’s Neck of New Guinea. This builds upon excavations in 2018–2021, which focused on excavations at the cave mouth. Excavated material currently under analysis from the upper Holocene deposits includes pottery, shell, stone tools, bone points and jewellery, and other ecofacts. Pleistocene material includes abundant stone artefacts. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal indicates some of these artefacts were produced as early as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 26,327–25,900 cal BP. Lithic analysis demonstrates expedient flaking of local sedimentary stone, focussed on the production of small flakes and scrapers, some of which were retouched, and the possible import of an igneous stone from further away. Archaeological excavations are ongoing at Andarewa. Future research will shed light on the antiquity of human occupation at the gateway to Sahul.