New findings, provided by an international team of researchers, strongly suggest that modern humans first managed to reach Australia and New Guinea around 60,000 years ago. This research has been published in the journal Science Advances.
The experts aimed to settle a long-standing debate regarding the timeline for the peopling of the ancient continent Sahul, which was a single landmass connecting New Guinea and Australia during the Ice Age.
For many years, the discussion centered around two primary competing theories: the “long chronology,” which proposed human arrival approximately 60,000 years ago, and the “short chronology,” which favored a later migration sometime between 45,000 and 50,000 years ago.
To test these assertions, the experts scrutinized mitochondrial DNA—the genetic material inherited exclusively through the maternal line. The team analyzed roughly 2,500 genomes belonging to residents of Australia, New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific region.
The outcome proved striking: the most ancient genetic lineages, which are uniquely characteristic of Indigenous Australians and the inhabitants of New Guinea, were determined to have emerged about 60,000 years ago. This effectively validated the early settlement hypothesis.
Furthermore, the analysis offered insights into potential migration pathways. The scientists deduced that humans arrived in Sahul not from a single source, but from at least two distinct directions. One contingent likely traveled via the northern routes, encompassing Indonesia, the Philippines, and adjacent areas. The other group appears to have come from the south, moving through Malaysia and Indochina.
The researchers plan to continue their work, specifically intending to sequence complete genomes and to extract ancient DNA from archaeological remains. This future work is expected to provide an even clearer picture of one of humanity’s earliest migratory events.
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