Cultivation was practiced in northern Australia centuries before European colonisation

This recent paper, published in February in Nature Ecology and Evolution, reports the discovery of robust evidence showing the presence of horticulture activity in western Torres Strait. Cultivation therefore was practiced in northern Australia centuries before European colonisation.

The presence of banana starch, while this fruit does not grow locally, provides a historical basis for understanding the diffusion of cultivation practices and cultivars, most likely from New Guinea.