An extensive body of engraved rock art on the Great Papuan Plateau is documented here for the first time, along with the first dates for occupation. Consisting largely of deeply abraded or pecked barred ovals and cupules, the rock art of this region does not fit comfortably into any regional models for rock art previously described. It does, however, exhibit some similarity to art in regions to the east and the west of the plateau. Subject to further archaeological testing, we present a number of exploratory hypotheses with which to explain the presence of the engravings; as part of the ethnographic and contemporary Kasua's cultural suite; as part of a relatively recent (late Holocene) migration of peoples from the Gulf to the plateau; or as part of an earlier movement of people from the west, possibly as part of the movement of people into the Sahul continent in the Late Pleistocene. We conclude that the Great Papuan Plateau is not a late and marginally occupied ‘backwater’ but rather part of a possible corridor of human movement across northern Sahul and a region that could allow us to better understand modern humans as they reached the Sahul continent.

中文翻译：

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巴布亚新几内亚博萨维山地区的岩刻和占领遗址：对我们理解南部高地人类存在的意义

这里首次记录了大巴布亚高原上大量雕刻的岩石艺术，以及最初的占领日期。该地区的岩石艺术主要由严重磨损或啄孔的椭圆形和杯状体组成，与先前描述的任何岩石艺术区域模型都不合适。然而，它确实表现出与高原东部和西部地区的艺术有一些相似之处。经过进一步的考古测试，我们提出了一些探索性假设来解释雕刻的存在；作为民族志和当代 Kasua 文化套件的一部分；作为人们从海湾到高原的相对较新（全新世晚期）迁移的一部分；或者作为早期西方人流动的一部分，可能是晚更新世人类迁入萨胡尔大陆的一部分。我们得出的结论是，大巴布亚高原不是一个晚期和边缘被占领的“死水”，而是一个可能的跨越萨胡尔北部的人类运动走廊的一部分，这个地区可以让我们更好地了解现代人类到达萨胡尔大陆时的情况。