From Misisil Cave to Eliva Hamlet: rediscovering the Pleistocene in interior West New Britain. In A Pacific Odyssey: Archaeology and Anthropology in the Western Pacific. Papers in Honour of Jim Specht
Abstract
The potential for archaeological evidence of Pleistocene activity to exist in West New Britain was first realized by Jim Specht. More recent work in Specht's research region of Yombon reveals intriguing archaeological data which demonstrate the organized utilization of rainforest resources as early as 35,500 years ago. The early colonists of the Bismarck Archipelago were versatile hunter-gatherers able to move beyond the coastal island fringes of Melanesia and harness important economic and lithic resources deep within the lowland rainforests.
