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Tim Denham

Research Summary

Photograph of Tim Denham

My research focuses on understanding how agricultural practices may have arisen from pre-existing forms of plant exploitation, most likely during the early-to-mid Holocene, on the island of New Guinea. These social changes need to be considered within dynamic human-environmental contexts, including regionally and temporally-specific variations in climate, vegetation and landscape change since initial colonisation of the island at least 40,000 years ago.

Biography

In 2004, I completed a PhD in archaeology at the Australian National University entitled 'The Kuk Morass: multi-disciplinary investigations of early to mid Holocene plant exploitation at Kuk Swamp, Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea'. My research focussed on the antiquity and nature of early agricultural practices in the Highlands of New Guinea and built on prior work by Professor Jack Golson and colleagues. My multi-disciplinary research with collaborators showed agriculture was practiced by at least 7000-6500 years ago in the Highlands, a finding which corroborated previous interpretations for the early and independent development of agriculture on New Guinea (as published in Science, Denham et al. 2003 and elsewhere [see below]).

My multi-disciplinary research with collaborators showed agriculture was practiced by at least 7000-6500 years ago in the Highlands, a finding which corroborated previous interpretations for the early and independent development of agriculture on New Guinea (as published in Science, Denham et al. 2003 and elsewhere [see below]). I have also published on archaeological theory and on archaeological work in England, Hawai`i and the United Arab Emirates. I have considerable experience as an archaeological consultant (six years full-time in the UK and USA ) and I have participated on projects in American Samoa, Australia, CNMI, England, Palau, Hawai`i and the Marshall Islands.

Research Projects

My current research projects include:

Inter-disciplinary Networks/Workshops

Outreach

Recent Publications (last 5 years) Key Article

  1. Denham, T.P., 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: 189-193.

Authored Book

  1. Denham, T.P. In prep. Tracking early agriculture in the Highlands of New Guinea London: UCL Press (for submission in September 2006).

Edited Volumes

  1. Golson, J., T.P. Denham, P. Swadling and J. Muke (eds.). In prep.10,000 years of agriculture at Kuk Adelaide: Crawford Academic Publishing (for publication in 2006).
  2. Denham, T.P. and J.P. White (eds.) In prep. The emergence of agriculture: a global view One World Archaeology Reader, London: Routledge (for submission in April 2006).
  3. Denham, T.P., J. Iriarte and L. Vrydaghs (eds.) In press. Rethinking agriculture: archaeological and ethnoarchaeological perspectives London: UCL Press.
  4. Denham, T.P. and C. Ballard (eds.) 2003. Perspectives on prehistoric agriculture in New Guinea. Archaeology in Oceania, Special Issue 38(3).

Articles (sole author)

  1. Denham, T.P. In press. Thinking about plant exploitation in New Guinea: towards a contingent interpretation of agriculture. In T.P. Denham, J. Iriarte and L. Vrydaghs, eds., Rethinking agriculture: archaeological and ethnoarchaeological perspectives, London: University College London Press (for publication in 2006)
  2. Denham, T.P. 2006. The origins of agriculture in New Guinea: evidence, interpretation and reflection. In I. Lilley, ed., Blackwell guide to archaeology in Oceania: Australia and the Pacific islands. Oxford: Blackwell.
  3. Denham, T.P. 2005. Envisaging early agriculture in the Highlands of New Guinea: landscapes, plants and practices. World Archaeology 37(2): 290-306.
  4. Denham, T.P. 2005. Les racines de l ’agriculture en Nouvelle-Guinée. La Recherche 389: 48-51.
  5. Denham, T.P. 2005. Food for thought. NatureAustralia 28(4): 50-55.
  6. Denham, T.P. 2005. Agricultural origins and the emergence of rectilinear ditch networks in the highlands of New Guinea. In A. Pawley, R. Attenborough, J. Golson and R. Hide, eds., Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples, pp 329-62. Pacific Linguistics 572. Canberra: RSPAS, ANU).
  7. Denham, T.P. 2004. The roots of agriculture and arboriculture in New Guinea: looking beyond Austronesian expansion, Neolithic packages and Indigenous origins. World Archaeology 36(4): 610-20.
  8. Denham, T.P. 2004. Early agriculture in the Highlands of New Guinea: an assessment of Phase 1 at Kuk Swamp. In V. Attenbrow and R. Fullagar, eds., A Pacific odyssey: archaeology and anthropology in the western Pacific. Papers in honour of Jim Specht. Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 29: 47-57.
  9. Denham, T.P. 2003. Archaeological evidence for mid-Holocene agriculture in the interior of Papua New Guinea: a critical review. In T.P. Denham and C. Ballard, eds., Perspectives on prehistoric agriculture in New Guinea. Archaeology in Oceania, Special Issue 38(3): 159-76.

Articles (first co-author)

  1. Denham, T.P., J. Golson, and P.J. Hughes Submitted. Phase 1: The case for 10,000 year-old agriculture at Kuk. In J. Golson, T.P. Denham, P. Swadling and J. Muke, eds., 10,000 years of agriculture at Kuk Adelaide: Crawford Academic Publishing and Canberra: Pandanus Books (for publication in 2005).
  2. Denham, T.P., J. Golson, and P.J. Hughes Submitted. Phase 2: Mounded cultivation in the Upper Wahgi valley during the mid-Holocene. In J. Golson, T.P. Denham, P. Swadling and J. Muke, eds., 10,000 years of agriculture at Kuk Adelaide: Crawford Academic Publishing and Canberra: Pandanus Books (for publication in 2005).
  3. Denham, T.P., J. Golson, and P.J. Hughes Submitted. Phase 3: Ditched drainage for cultivation from 4400-4000 to 2700-2400 years ago at Kuk. In J. Golson, T.P. Denham, P. Swadling and J. Muke, eds., 10,000 years of agriculture at Kuk Adelaide: Crawford Academic Publishing and Canberra: Pandanus Books (for publication in 2005).
  4. Denham, T.P. and H. Barton 2006. The emergence of agriculture in New Guinea: continuity from pre-existing foraging practices. In D.J. Kennett and B. Winterhalder, eds., Behavioral ecology and the transition to agriculture, pp. 237-64. California: University of California Press.
  5. Denham, T.P., J. Golson, and P.J. Hughes 2004. Reading early agriculture at Kuk (Phases 1-3), Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea: the wetland archaeological features. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 70: 259-98.
  6. Denham, T.P., S.G. Haberle and C. Lentfer 2004. New evidence and interpretations for early agriculture in Highland New Guinea. Antiquity 78: 839-57.
  7. Denham, T.P. and C. Ballard 2003. Jack Golson and the investigation of prehistoric agriculture in Highland New Guinea: recent work and future prospects. In T.P. Denham and C. Ballard, eds., Perspectives on prehistoric agriculture in New Guinea. Archaeology in Oceania, Special Issue 38(3): 129-34.

Articles (multiple author)

  1. Head, L., H. Allen, T.P. Denham and R. Fullagar. Submitted. Australasian overview. For the Oxford handbook of archaeology edited by B. Cunliffe, C. Gosden and R. Joyce (solicited contribution for publication in 2005).
  2. Vrydaghs, L. and T.P. Denham In press. Introduction: challenging existing concepts of early agriculture. In T.P. Denham, J. Iriarte and L. Vrydaghs, eds., Rethinking agriculture: archaeological and ethnoarchaeological perspectives. WAC5 Publication Series. London: University College London Press (for publication in 2006).
  3. David, B. and T.P. Denham. 2006. Unpacking Australian prehistory. In B. David, B. Barker and I. McNiven, eds., The social archaeology of indigenous societies: essays on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history in honour of Harry Lourandos, PP. 52-71. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
  4. Fullagar, R., J. Field, T.P. Denham and C. Lentfer. 2006. Early and mid-Holocene processing of taro (Colocasia esculenta) and yam (Dioscorea sp.) at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.Journal of Archaeological Science 33: 595-614.
  5. Terrell, J.E., J.P. Hart, S. Barut, N. Cellinese, A. Curet, T.P. Denham, H. Haines, C.M. Kusimba, K. Latinis, R. Oka, J. Palka, M.E.D. Pohl, K.O. Pope, J.E. Staller and P.R. Williams 2003. Domesticated landscapes: the subsistence ecology of plant and animal domestication. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 10(4): 323-68.

Book Reviews

  1. Denham, T.P. In press Review of ‘First Farmers’ by Peter Bellwood Australian Archaeology.
  2. Denham, T.P. 2004. Review of ‘Marx’s Ghosts: conversations with archaeologists’ by Thomas C. Patterson Oceania 75(1): 71-2.

Technical Reports (not peer reviewed)

  1. David, B., Denham, T.P., Dop, J. and McNiven, I. 2005. Cultural heritage sites survey along the Kaiam-Goaribari section of the Papua New Guinea Gas Project Pipeline Route: Stage 1. Cultural Heritage Report Series 14. Clayton: Programme for Australian Indigenous Archaeology, School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University.
  2. Denham, T.P. 2004. Agriculture's origins in the Highlands of New Guinea.Australasian Science 25(5): 23-6.

Kuk Nomination

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Room No: S110A, Menzies Building
Telephone: +61 3 9902 0109
Fax: +61 3 9905 2948
Email: Tim.Denham@arts.monash.edu.au

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