According to a reporter in Sydney, archaeologists from the Australian National University have discovered animal and food fossils dating back 42,000 years at a village in Indonesia located on the Sahul Shelf, which was once a landmass connected to present-day Australia.
This discovery provides new evidence that sheds light on the possible migration routes of ancient groups to this Oceania nation.
A village on the northern coast of Tanimbar, Indonesia. (Photo: anu.edu.au).
The new archaeological discoveries in Indonesia are helping to outline the patterns of human migration across Southeast Asia and to Australia. One of the oldest examples of cave art was discovered on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, earlier this month, and researchers have now made another significant find.
Mr. Hendri Kaharudin, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University and the lead author of this new study, stated that the ancient traces found in a village on the Tanimbar Islands indicate that humans inhabited and lived there 42,000 years ago. Evidence of life remains includes shells, fire pits, charcoal, sea urchins, and crabs.
Sahul is an ancient continent that included the Australian mainland, Tasmania, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands, which were separated after the last ice age around 18,000 years ago. Since the 1960s, researchers have debated two possible migration routes to explain how ancient peoples arrived at the Sahul Continental Shelf. The first migration route traces a journey from Sulawesi, Indonesia, to New Guinea—a route that researchers had previously known to have been a land bridge to New Guinea. Another southern route extends from Bali to Timor and the Tanimbar Islands, which are considered part of a significant pathway, as the research group and Mr. Kaharudin speculate. In between is a group of islands known as Wallacea, so to reach Australia, they had to travel from island to island, finding ways to navigate the barriers posed by the sea.
The new findings provide evidence that the southern route was heavily utilized and also indicate advanced maritime technology and navigational skills of ancient peoples at that time. Mr. Kaharudin noted that this route is as old as Timor, located about 100km west of Tanimbar, and at Wallacea, the route has many branches.
Researchers also indicated that there is evidence of human settlement in Australia dating back over 60,000 years. Migration from Indonesia is just another piece of the incomplete puzzle that scientists are striving to solve to answer questions about the unique biological origins on the Australian continent.
