Both half right: Updating the evidence for dating first human arrivals in Sahul (original) (raw)
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Comprehensive review of archaeological data shows that Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea) was first occupied by humans ca. 47 ka (47,000 years ago); evidence for earlier arrival is weak. Colonizing populations remained low e perhaps two orders of magnitude below those estimated at European contact e for many millennia, and were long restricted to relatively favorable habitats. Though human arrival coincided with changes in native flora and fauna, these were mainly the products of climatic factors, not human interference. The genetic makeup of founding populations and their arrival date are consistent with the Late Dispersal Model of anatomically modern humans beyond SW Asia, beginning ca. 50 ka. Early Dispersal Models (120e70 ka) are not refuted, but draw no support from the Sahul record as currently understood.
SahulArch: A geochronological database for the archaeology of Sahul
Australian Archaeology, 2023
Reliable chronological frameworks for archaeological sites are essential for accurate interpretations of the past. Geochronology represents the core of interdisciplinary research because it allows integration of diverse data on a common timeline. Since the radiocarbon revolution in Australian archaeology in the 1950s, thousands of ages have been produced across Sahul (combined landmass of Australia and New Guinea). Methods such as thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) have also been used on Australian archaeological deposits and enabled the study of the deep past beyond the limits of radiocarbon dating. After seven decades, these geochronological methods no longer provide just a 'date', but instead, the geochronological community is focussed on providing the most reliable, precise, and reproducible ages. These aspects of age estimation are central to the framework of the SahulArch geochronological database. SahulArch is a new publicly available continental-scale dataset in which context and quality assurance criteria of each dated sample are considered as important as the age itself. SahulArch contains a total of 10,717 ages (9,504 radiocarbon, 973 OSL, and 240 TL) from 2,318 sites across the Sahul landmass. We describe the structure of SahulArch, types of auxiliary data collected, and provide a summary of the data in SahulArch.
Dating the colonization of Sahul (Pleistocene Australia–New Guinea): a review of recent research
The date for the initial colonization of Sahul is a key benchmark in human history and the topic of a long-running debate. Most analysts favor either a 40,000 BP or 60,000 BP arrival time, though some have proposed a much earlier date. Here we review data from more than 30 archaeological sites with basal ages >20,000 years reported since 1993, giving special attention to five sites with purported ages >45,000 years. We conclude that while the continent was probably occupied by 42–45,000 BP, earlier arrival dates are not well-supported. This observation undercuts claims for modern human migrations out of Africa and beyond the Levant before 50,000 BP. It also has critical but not yet conclusive implications for arguments about a human role in the extinction of Sahul megafauna.
On a Fast-Track: Human Discovery, Exploration and Settlement of Sahul
2012
colonisation of the Bismarck Archipelago: New evidence from New Britain. Archaeology in Oceania 39:101-130. Turney, C.S.M., M. Bird, L.K. Fifield, R.G. Roberts, M. Smith, C.E. Dortch, R. Grun, E. Lawson, L.K. Ayliffe, G.H. Miller, J. Dortch and R.G. Cresswell 2001b Early human occupation at Devil’s Lair, southwestern Australia, 50,000 years ago. Quaternary Research 55:3-13. Turney, C.S.M., M.I. Bird and R.G. Roberts 2001a Elemental 13C at Allen’s Cave, Nullabor Plain: Assessing post-depositional disturbance and reconstructing past environments. Journal of Quaternary Science 16:779-784. Turney, C.S.M., A.P. Kershaw, S.C. Clemens, R. Branch, P.T. Moss and L.K. Fifield 2004 Millennial and orbital variations of El Niño/Southern Oscillation and high latitude climate in the last glacial period. Nature 428:306-310. Ugan, A. 2005 Does size matter? Body size, mass collecting and their implications for prehistoric foraging behavior. American Antiquity 70:75-90. Ugan, A., J. Bright and A. Roge...
A different paradigm for the initial colonisation of Sahul
Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania, 2020
The questions of when and how humans reached Sahul, the Pleistocene continent of Australia and New Guinea, has remained a central issue of Australian archaeology since its development as an academic discipline in the mid-twentieth century. Modelling this event has persistently appealed to minimal assumptions-the simplest watercraft, the shortest routes, the smallest viable colonising groups. This paper argues that Australian archaeology can no longer ignore the way our understanding of this initial colonisation is being reshaped by current genomic research. It reviews this evidence and concludes that a colonising wave of hundreds or perhaps low thousands of people was involved. If correct, it suggests that we need to rethink our models, modify or discard the minimalist assumptions that have so far driven them and consider how this different paradigm affects our understanding of early settlement in Sahul.
Abrupt onset of intensive human occupation 44,000 years ago on the threshold of Sahul
Nature Communications, 2024
Archaeological evidence attests multiple early dispersals of Homo sapiens out of Africa, but genetic evidence points to the primacy of a single dispersal 70-40 ka. Laili in Timor-Leste is on the southern dispersal route between Eurasia and Australasia and has the earliest record of human occupation in the eastern Wallacean archipelago. New evidence from the site shows that, unusually in the region, sediment accumulated in the shelter without human occupation, in the window 59–54 ka. This was followed by an abrupt onset of intensive human habitation beginning ~44 ka. The initial occupation is distinctive from overlying layers in the aquatic focus of faunal exploitation, while it has similarities in material culture to other early Homo sapiens sites in Wallacea. We suggest that the intensive early occupation at Laili represents a colonisation phase, which may have overwhelmed previous human dispersals in this part of the world.
Early human settlement of Sahul was not an accident
Scientific Reports, 2019
The first peopling of Sahul (Australia, New Guinea and the Aru Islands joined at lower sea levels) by anatomically modern humans required multiple maritime crossings through Wallacea, with at least one approaching 100 km. Whether these crossings were accidental or intentional is unknown. Using coastal-viewshed analysis and ocean drift modelling combined with population projections, we show that the probability of randomly reaching Sahul by any route is <5% until ≥40 adults are 'washed off' an island at least once every 20 years. We then demonstrate that choosing a time of departure and making minimal headway (0.5 knots) toward a destination greatly increases the likelihood of arrival. While drift modelling demonstrates the existence of 'bottleneck' crossings on all routes, arrival via New Guinea is more likely than via northwestern Australia. We conclude that anatomically modern humans had the capacity to plan and make open-sea voyages lasting several days by at least 50,000 years ago. Increased attention to maritime landscapes over the last two decades has re-invigorated investigation into the role of coastal environments and sea travel in the behavioural evolution of our species. New evidence has fundamentally changed our understanding of the cognitive capacity of anatomically modern humans 1,2 , genetic ancestry 3 , dispersal patterns from Africa 4 and the peopling of new environments 5,6. However, the role of coastlines and coastal resources in the dispersal of modern humans has been much debated. Proponents of a coastal migration model for H. sapiens out of Africa argue that coastlines would have provided for a fast, directional population expansion with predictable resources and supplies of potable water 7. Those opposing, point out that there is little direct evidence to support a coastal-highway hypothesis and that there is evidence that early humans were able to make use of savanna and rainforest environments 2,8. More recent papers propose a less dichotomous model featuring flexibility, involving use of coasts and estuaries, but not exclusively relying on them 4,5,9. Whatever the reality, it is clear that the ability to make even rudimentary watercraft and move directionally over water, both across large rivers and in traversing unknown sections of coastline, would have given H. sapiens a selective advantage over other hominins. Australia and the islands to its north (the Wallacean Archipelago) have been at the forefront of this debate because the maritime crossing from Sunda to Sahul requires lengthy water crossings that appear to have been beyond the capacity of earlier hominins.
The revolution that didn't arrive: A review of Pleistocene Sahul
Journal of Human Evolution, 2008
There is a ''package'' of cultural innovations that are claimed to reflect modern human behaviour. The introduction of the ''package'' has been associated with the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the appearance in Europe of modern humans. It has been proposed that modern humans spread from Africa with the ''package'' and colonised not only Europe but also southern Asia and Australia (McBrearty and Brooks, 2000; Mellars, 2006a). In order to evaluate this proposal, we explore the late Pleistocene archaeological record of Sahul, the combined landmass of Australia and Papua New Guinea, for indications of these cultural innovations at the earliest sites. It was found that following initial occupation of the continent by anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, the components were gradually assembled over a 30,000-year period. We discount the idea that the ''package'' was lost en route to Sahul and assess the possibility that the ''package'' was not integrated within the material culture of the initial colonising groups because they may not have been part of a rapid colonisation process from Africa. As the cultural innovations appear at different times and locations within Sahul, the proposed ''package'' of archaeologically visible traits cannot be used to establish modern human behaviour. Whilst the potential causal role of increasing population densities/pressure in the appearance of the ''package'' of modern human behaviour in the archaeological record is acknowledged, it is not seen as the sole explanation because the individual components of the ''package'' appear at sites that are widely separated in space and time.