Collective Action, Mutual Aid, and Wetland Agriculture in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.33339Keywords:
wetland drainage, collective action, New Guinea, p KropotkinAbstract
Much archaeological and historical theory of societal development characterises societies that are reliant on hydraulic agro-ecosystems as maintaining high levels of socio-political control and centralisation (Wittfogel 1957). In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, large-scale and extensive wetland agricultural practices date from several thousand years ago up to the present. These extensive drainage networks are the product of collective, community-based action and are co-ordinated by the persuasive influence of relatively weak and egalitarian political leaders, big-men (Strathern 1971). Here the New Guinea evidence is used to critique evolutionary models of societal development and associated concepts of human nature to develop a mutualistic perspective on the past. These ideas are pertinent to contemporary highland societies, many of which aggressively maintain their independence from each other and the Papua New Guinea state. Their agricultural history continues as a living tradition into the present.
References
Angelbeck, B. 2016. “The Balance of Autonomy and Alliance in Anarchic Societies: The Organisation of Defences in the Coast Salish Past.” World Archaeology 48 (1): 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2015.1131620
Bakunin, M. 1971. Bakunin on Anarchy: Selected Works by the Activist-Founder of World Anarchism. New York: Vintage.
Ballard, C. 2001. “Wetland Drainage and Agricultural Transformations in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.” Asia Pacific Viewpoint 42 (2–3): 287–304. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8373.00150
____. 2017. “The Wetland Field Systems of the New Guinea Highlands.” In Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, edited by J. Golson, T. P. Denham, P. J. Hughes, J. Muke and P. Swadling, 65–84. Canberra: ANU E Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/TA46.07.2017.05
____., T. P. Denham and S. G. Haberle. 2013. “Wetland Archaeology in the Highlands of New Guinea.” In The Oxford Handbook of Wetland Archaeology, edited by F. Menotti and A. O’Sullivan, 231–248. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bayliss-Smith, T. 2007. “The Meaning of Ditches: Interpreting the Archaeological Record Using Insights from Ethnography.” In Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives, edited by T. P. Denham, J. Iriarte and L. Vrydaghs, 126–148. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Bourke, R. M. and B. Allen. 2009. “Village Food Production Systems.” In Food and Agriculture in Papua New Guinea, edited by R. M. Bourke and T. Harwood, 193–269. Canberra: ANU E Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/FAPNG.08.2009.03
Childe, V. G. 1936. Man Makes Himself. London: Watts.
Clastres, P. 1977. Society Against the State. Translated by R. Hurley. New York: Zone Books.
Denham, T. P. 2005a. “Agricultural Origins and the Emergence of Rectilinear Ditch Networks in the Highlands of New Guinea.” In Papuan Pasts: Cultural, Linguistic and Biological Histories of Papuan-Speaking Peoples, edited by A. Pawley, R. Attenborough, J. Golson and R. Hide, 329–361. Pacific Linguistics 572. Canberra: RSPAS and ANU.
____. 2005b. “Food for Thought.” Nature Australia 28 (4): 50–55.
____. and S. G. Haberle. 2008. “Agricultural Emergence and Transformation in the Upper Wahgi Valley during the Holocene: Theory, Method and Practice.” The Holocene 18 (3): 499–514. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607087936
____., S. G. Haberle, C. Lentfer, R. Fullagar, J. Field, M. Therin, N. Porch and B. Winsborough. 2003. “Origins of Agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of New Guinea.” Science 301 (5630): 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1085255
Diamond, J. 1997. Guns, Germs and Steel. London: Chatto & Windus.
Flexner, J. 2014. “The Historical Archaeology of States and Non-States: Anarchist Perspectives from Hawai'i and Vanuatu”. Journal of Pacific Archaeology 5 (2): 81–97.
Gaffney, D., G. R. Summerhayes, A. Ford, J. Scott, T. P. Denham, J. Field and W. R. Dickinson. 2015. “Earliest Pottery on New Guinea Mainland Reveals Austronesian Influences in Highland Environments 3000 Years Ago.” PLOS ONE 10 (9): e0134497. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134497
Golson, J. 1977a. “No Room at the Top: Agricultural Intensification in the New Guinea Highlands.” In Sunda and Sahul: Prehistoric Studies in Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia, edited by J. Allen, J. Golson and R. Jones, 601–638. London: Academic Press.
____. 1977b. The Ladder of Social Evolution: Archaeology and the Bottom Rungs. Sydney: Sydney University Press.
____. 1997. “The Tambul Spade.” In Work in Progress: Essays in New Guinea Highlands Ethnography in Honour of Paula Brown Glick, edited by H. Levine and A. Ploeg, 142–171. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Harris, D. R. 2007. “Agriculture, Cultivation and Domestication: Exploring the Conceptual Framework of Early Food Production. In Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives, edited by T. P. Denham, J. Iriarte and L. Vrydaghs, 16–35. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Kropotkin, P. A. 1887. “The Scientific Basis of Anarchy.” Nineteenth Century 21 (February): 238–258.
____. 1970. Anarchism: A Collection of Revolutionary Writings. Mineola, NY: Dover.
____. 1987 [1902]. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. London: Freedom Press.
Leahy, M. J. and M. Crain 1937. The Land that Time Forgot: Adventures and Discoveries in New Guinea. London: Hurst and Blackett.
Marx K. 1979 [1852]. “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.” In Marx/Engels Collected Works 11: 99–209. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
____. and. F. Engels. 1976 [1845–1846]. “The German Ideology.” In Marx/Engels Collected Works 5: 19–539. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Muke, J. 1992. The Wahgi Opo-Kumbo. An Account of warfare, Central Highlands, New Guinea. PhD diss., University of Cambridge.
____., T. P. Denham and V. Genorupa 2007. “Nominating and Managing a World Heritage Site in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.” World Archaeology 39 (3): 324–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438240701464947
Renfrew, C. 1973. Before Civilization: The Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
Sahlins, M. 1963. “Poor Man, Rich Man, Big-Man, Chief: Political Types in Melanesia and Polynesia.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 5 (3): 285–303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417500001729
Sanger, M.C. 2017. “Anarchic Theory and the Study of Hunter-Gatherers.” The SAA Archaeological Record 17 (1): 39–43.
Scott, J. C. 2009. The Art of Not Being Governed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Steensberg, A. 1980. New Guinea Gardens: A Study of Husbandry with Parallels in Prehistoric Europe. London: Academic Press.
Strathern, A. 1971. The Rope of Moka: Big-Men and Ceremonial Exchange in Mount Hagen, New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558160
Wittfogel, K. 1957. Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Bakunin, M. 1971. Bakunin on Anarchy: Selected Works by the Activist-Founder of World Anarchism. New York: Vintage.
Ballard, C. 2001. “Wetland Drainage and Agricultural Transformations in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.” Asia Pacific Viewpoint 42 (2–3): 287–304. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8373.00150
____. 2017. “The Wetland Field Systems of the New Guinea Highlands.” In Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, edited by J. Golson, T. P. Denham, P. J. Hughes, J. Muke and P. Swadling, 65–84. Canberra: ANU E Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/TA46.07.2017.05
____., T. P. Denham and S. G. Haberle. 2013. “Wetland Archaeology in the Highlands of New Guinea.” In The Oxford Handbook of Wetland Archaeology, edited by F. Menotti and A. O’Sullivan, 231–248. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bayliss-Smith, T. 2007. “The Meaning of Ditches: Interpreting the Archaeological Record Using Insights from Ethnography.” In Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives, edited by T. P. Denham, J. Iriarte and L. Vrydaghs, 126–148. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Bourke, R. M. and B. Allen. 2009. “Village Food Production Systems.” In Food and Agriculture in Papua New Guinea, edited by R. M. Bourke and T. Harwood, 193–269. Canberra: ANU E Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/FAPNG.08.2009.03
Childe, V. G. 1936. Man Makes Himself. London: Watts.
Clastres, P. 1977. Society Against the State. Translated by R. Hurley. New York: Zone Books.
Denham, T. P. 2005a. “Agricultural Origins and the Emergence of Rectilinear Ditch Networks in the Highlands of New Guinea.” In Papuan Pasts: Cultural, Linguistic and Biological Histories of Papuan-Speaking Peoples, edited by A. Pawley, R. Attenborough, J. Golson and R. Hide, 329–361. Pacific Linguistics 572. Canberra: RSPAS and ANU.
____. 2005b. “Food for Thought.” Nature Australia 28 (4): 50–55.
____. and S. G. Haberle. 2008. “Agricultural Emergence and Transformation in the Upper Wahgi Valley during the Holocene: Theory, Method and Practice.” The Holocene 18 (3): 499–514. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607087936
____., S. G. Haberle, C. Lentfer, R. Fullagar, J. Field, M. Therin, N. Porch and B. Winsborough. 2003. “Origins of Agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of New Guinea.” Science 301 (5630): 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1085255
Diamond, J. 1997. Guns, Germs and Steel. London: Chatto & Windus.
Flexner, J. 2014. “The Historical Archaeology of States and Non-States: Anarchist Perspectives from Hawai'i and Vanuatu”. Journal of Pacific Archaeology 5 (2): 81–97.
Gaffney, D., G. R. Summerhayes, A. Ford, J. Scott, T. P. Denham, J. Field and W. R. Dickinson. 2015. “Earliest Pottery on New Guinea Mainland Reveals Austronesian Influences in Highland Environments 3000 Years Ago.” PLOS ONE 10 (9): e0134497. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134497
Golson, J. 1977a. “No Room at the Top: Agricultural Intensification in the New Guinea Highlands.” In Sunda and Sahul: Prehistoric Studies in Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia, edited by J. Allen, J. Golson and R. Jones, 601–638. London: Academic Press.
____. 1977b. The Ladder of Social Evolution: Archaeology and the Bottom Rungs. Sydney: Sydney University Press.
____. 1997. “The Tambul Spade.” In Work in Progress: Essays in New Guinea Highlands Ethnography in Honour of Paula Brown Glick, edited by H. Levine and A. Ploeg, 142–171. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Harris, D. R. 2007. “Agriculture, Cultivation and Domestication: Exploring the Conceptual Framework of Early Food Production. In Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives, edited by T. P. Denham, J. Iriarte and L. Vrydaghs, 16–35. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Kropotkin, P. A. 1887. “The Scientific Basis of Anarchy.” Nineteenth Century 21 (February): 238–258.
____. 1970. Anarchism: A Collection of Revolutionary Writings. Mineola, NY: Dover.
____. 1987 [1902]. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. London: Freedom Press.
Leahy, M. J. and M. Crain 1937. The Land that Time Forgot: Adventures and Discoveries in New Guinea. London: Hurst and Blackett.
Marx K. 1979 [1852]. “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.” In Marx/Engels Collected Works 11: 99–209. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
____. and. F. Engels. 1976 [1845–1846]. “The German Ideology.” In Marx/Engels Collected Works 5: 19–539. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Muke, J. 1992. The Wahgi Opo-Kumbo. An Account of warfare, Central Highlands, New Guinea. PhD diss., University of Cambridge.
____., T. P. Denham and V. Genorupa 2007. “Nominating and Managing a World Heritage Site in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.” World Archaeology 39 (3): 324–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438240701464947
Renfrew, C. 1973. Before Civilization: The Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
Sahlins, M. 1963. “Poor Man, Rich Man, Big-Man, Chief: Political Types in Melanesia and Polynesia.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 5 (3): 285–303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417500001729
Sanger, M.C. 2017. “Anarchic Theory and the Study of Hunter-Gatherers.” The SAA Archaeological Record 17 (1): 39–43.
Scott, J. C. 2009. The Art of Not Being Governed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Steensberg, A. 1980. New Guinea Gardens: A Study of Husbandry with Parallels in Prehistoric Europe. London: Academic Press.
Strathern, A. 1971. The Rope of Moka: Big-Men and Ceremonial Exchange in Mount Hagen, New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558160
Wittfogel, K. 1957. Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Published
2019-01-26
Issue
Section
Anarchy and Archaeology Forum - OPEN ACCESS
How to Cite
Denham, T. (2019). Collective Action, Mutual Aid, and Wetland Agriculture in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 5(2), 259-267. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.33339
