Sweet potato revolution in the New Guinea highlands
Revolución de la batata en las tierras altas de Nueva Guinea
- Date
- c. 1650 (muy discutido) · confidence low
- Place
- Wahgi Valley, Jiwaka, Papua New Guinea
- Credited to
- Farmers of the New Guinea highlands
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The American sweet potato, arriving in New Guinea perhaps via Indonesia in the 16th or 17th century, outyields taro at high altitude and feeds pigs. Its adoption is thought to have allowed the highlands to be settled and farmed more intensively, with population and pig-herd growth.
The 'sweet potato revolution' hypothesis (Golson, Watson) is controversial: some highland sweet potato dates are earlier and the population change is debated. The year is a marker for the traditional hypothesis.
What it led to
- demographic growth in the highlands, with densely populated valleys
- ceremonial pig-exchange systems (moka, tee)
- new systems of ditches and mounds, such as those at Kuk Swamp