Abstract
For over 50,000 years the island of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago formed an important link between Asia and the Pacific. The region not only has evidence for some of the earliest occupation of modern humans outside of Africa, but also demonstrates early agriculture some 10,000 years ago. This region was also an important link providing a staging point for Austronesian movements of people into the Pacific some three millennia ago. This rich 50,000-year-old history is evident in the nearly 10 million people of New Guinea today, speaking over 800 languages.