10,000-1500 BC Holocene

There is archaeological evidence of several distinct cultures both in the New Guinea Highlands and Buka in the north Solomon Islands from 26,000 years ago. Between 8000 and 10,000 years ago New Guinea was cut off from the Australian mainland by rising sea levels caused by melting ice caps at the end of the Ice Age. As temperatures began to rise and glaciers receded, people began to settle the newly formed island’s high central areas. Rock shelters were inhabited in Papua New Guinea’s Eastern Highland Province from 10,000 years ago. Highland and coastal peoples were trading with each other from at least 9000 years ago.

Archaeologists have found polished stone tools, certain forms of pottery and evidence of domestic animals that indicate that the northern coastal region of New Guinea may have been settled by Austronesian-speaking peoples between 5000 and 6000 years ago. These new arrivals bought with them considerable agricultural and fishing skills, not to mention their great skill in seafaring, probably the best in the world at that time.