The Archaeological and Historical Mapping Project and Results

M. Irfan Mahmud

Balai Arkeologi Jayapura, Papua

Kementerian Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata

Papua is located in a strategic position which connects islands of east Indonesian to Ocenian, it is possible to be inter-cultural growth and interaction teritory. This makes Papua as a ‘cultural melting-pot’which provide the sources of data on same aspects of migration and intercultural relationship in this region, such as caves/shelter and rock art which seems to have originated from the preneolitic, megalithic, paleometalic until colonialism period remains and, the most important, living prehistoric element. Since the archaeology research in 1930s, have revealed the traces of prehistoric cultural core of Papua with Melanesia, which supported widely by discovering the Lapita culture. Otherwise, the discovery of the elements of the Austronesia culture in Papua are the shape of pottery, square adze, poished stone chisel, grinding stone grain, artifacts mollusca Conus, house square,  and the open settlement and tradition of chewing betel areca nut is still exist until current time  illustration the interaction with Melanesia race around 3500 years ago.