Preserving PNG’s archeological sites
By CLIVE HAWIGEN
 DEEP in the rugged Lufa district of Goroka, Eastern Highlands province, lies the 9,000 year old prehistoric archeological site known as the Kafiavana Rock Shelter.
The site situated below a massive mass of limestone rock, filled with undisturbed flora and fauna, is famous in the archeological world for its paintings, carbon dated back 9,000 years. These paintings are believed to be some of the oldest and only prehistoric paintings found in Papua New Guinea.
According to archeologist and Assistant Director of the J.K McCarthy Museum in Goroka, Eziks Owaka, these paintings resemble designs and patterns found on shields of prehistoric Lufa warriors who used the Kafiavana Rock Shelter as a camping place and also as a ceremonial site.
The site is in strategic location overlooking the vast Asaro Valley and the local Yagaria people believe it was a lookout point for their ancestors.
Back in ancient times, the valley was a deadly battlefield. The rock shelter not only acted as a lookout point but was also a camp where tired men dressed in battle gear came to rest and prepare battle plans.
They brought their pigs and marsupials, made fires using flint, cooked their pork and marsupial and ate beside the fire. They made ancient stone axes and sharpened them. They also repaired their broken bows and sharpened their arrows all the while chanting to their gods asking for the next day to be favourable to them.
Kafiavana is the name given by the Yagaria people of Legaiyu Village to a small, high shelter on the east bank of the Fayantina River, about a mile south of the Fayantina-Dunatina junction and 12 miles south east of Goroka Town, close to Kami Village.
Humans first occupied Kafiavana more than 11,000 years ago. They possessed ground stone axes and hunted wild animals. They flaked large stone scrapers and pebble tools and prepared ochre for painting. A range of wild animals, mammals from the forests and grasslands, birds, reptiles and fish, were brought to the site and eaten. Pigs were present from about 6,500 years ago, but whether they were kept as domestic animals in this area is unknown.
Kafiavana came to the attention of archeologist J Peter White in 1964 when another archeologist J D Cole, then living in Goroka, visited the site upon hearing reports of the paintings. The floor of the shelter was then covered with chert chips.
In November-December 1964, Cole dug a 3x1yard trench on the east side of the site to a maximum depth of 85 inches (218 cm), finding implements throughout. This test excavation showed that Kafiavana contained a deep deposit with a sequence of concentrated human occupation. The site was the only major site reported from the Asaro Valley which lies between the Chuave-Wahgi cultural area and the Lamari Valley sites. Thus, it was strategically located to provide one link in an east-west transect through the Highlands.
Bone tools were made and may have been discarded at the back of the shelter. Human bones were occasionally left at the site and there was evidence that people continued to grind axes from local stones and ochre was still used for paintings. From time to time, shells were discovered suggesting that the site must have acted as a trade route from the coast and that these shells were probably valuable.
“Learning about our history is important,” said a passionate Mr Owaka adding that the Government should aggressively put more effort into preserving these sites and make it a practical teaching environment for secondary schools and tertiary institutions to teach students about PNG’s history.
Mr Owaka said this is why JK McCarthy Museum is working very closely with the University of Goroka (UOG) and high schools inside EHP to use the archeological site as a practical teaching model.
He said UOG will have the Kafiavana archeological site as a feature in its’ newly introduced Diploma in Museum and Cultural Heritage programme.
This also applies to the Goroka Secondary School and the Goroka International School who have had excursions to the site as part of the social science classes.
The Diploma in Museum and Cultural Heritage is the first ever programme to be launched in any tertiary institution in PNG. According to Dr Sam Sirex Kari, Director of the Centre for Melanesian Studies who is also a senior lecturer at the University of Goroka said there are five students currently undertaking this two year programme.
He said the purpose of the programme being offered at UOG is to make stored information in museums and cultural centres more accessible to the public.
“In doing that we’re transferring these stored information to future teachers who will be teaching our students about our history,” said Mr Kari.
He said we have already lost half of PNGs historical knowledge and practical applications like field trips to Kafiavana will allow students and young people to learn about the uniqueness of these paintings.
Dr Kari said making students aware of the cultural aspects and environmental conservation studies ties back to eco tourism and a potential for these sites to bring money into the country.
He said in future UOG would like to open up centres in Momase, New Guinea Islands and Papuan regions to bring students into the community and participate in promoting indigenous knowledge.
These educational institutions have been using the Kafiavana site as a teaching tool for the last eight years.
There is a need to preserve such historical sites throughout PNG from being ruined by human carelessness or through environmental causes.
The US Embassy has already given K60,000 towards the rehabilitation work of the Kafiavana Rock Shelter. Signboards have been erected near the site with various constructions like a rest house at the foot of the Rock, better pavements and shelter to protect the paintings from wearing off.
George Noiku, President of the Kafiavana Rock Site, said the site would also be important in attracting tourists. He said so far there have been a number of American and Australian tourists that have visited the site and were very intrigued to know more about the paintings. Other tourist attractions like bird-watching, fishing and white water rafting down the Fayantina River could also bring in the tourist dollar.
Mr Owaka stressed that students had to learn more about their history.
“You can’t do things right until you get your history right because everything is born out of history,” he stated passionately.
He said Papua New Guineans were born tradesmen and women because the history speaks for itself. He explained that if you looked at the Kuk and Bombomgara archeological sites, you would find evidence that more than a thousand years ago our ancestors were innovative in agriculture and were very good when it came to doing practical work.
“The paintings here also emphasised that,” he said pointing to the rock paintings at the site.
But during the last couple of decades these senses of practicality seem to have been lost and PNG has tended to become lazy.
Mr Owaka has blamed it all on the Government who has failed miserably to provide practical skills from the evidence of PNG history.
He said the only way forward is for the Government to recognise technical institutions and encourage young Papua New Guinean women and men to take up trade courses.
Such sites need more attention by the National Government in order to preserve our historical heritage.
For thousands of years, the western world has taken pride in its history and has aggressively studied their culture whether it be paintings or architectural designs, crafts and artworks or the latest agricultural innovations and have advanced to become strong and economically steady nations.
PNG can do the same and the answer lies in our history.
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