Reconstructing Early Human Subsistence in Near Oceania: New Insights From Matenkupkum and Matenbek

ABSTRACT The colonization of New Ireland ~44–40,000 years ago represents the earliest evidence of human occupation in Near Oceania. Yet, the precise impacts of climatic changes on subsistence strategies during the Late Pleistocene, Last Glacial Maximum, and Holocene remain poorly understood. Here, we provide the first in depth analysis of subsistence patterns at Matenkupkum and Matenbek throughout the Pleistocene–Holocene transition by applying archaeozoological quantification and protein‐yield calculations to the faunal material from both sites. Coastal resources dominated both assemblages during the colonization period. However, we demonstrate that major disturbances in subsistence strategies occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum period. The purposeful introduction of cuscus to New Ireland at 20,000 BP resulted in an increased reliance on interior forest resources. We argue that shifts in subsistence in New Ireland were influenced by population growth and environmental shifts, which allowed for increases in trade and exchange networks.