Slide 1Slide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13The Peopling of Australia andthe New WorldOnly modern Homo sapiens spread to thefarthest reaches of the world:into SiberiaAustraliaNew World (North-Central-South America)Remember, this spread occurred duringthe Pleistocene, the Ice Age,When glaciation caused low sea levels,allowing some land masses to be joined(Kottak 2005 Atlas)Spread of modern H. sapiensThe Indo-Malaysian Archipelago contains two very different biogeographical regions. The western islands on the Sunda Shelf (Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Borneo) were joined to each other and to the Asian mainland by landbridges during glacial periods of low sea level. (www.archaeology.org)Hence they supported rich Asian placental mammal faunas and were colonized by Homo erectus, perhaps as early as 1.8 mya Light-colored areasindicate land exposedduring glaciationThe eastern islands (Sulawesi, Lombok, Timor, the Moluccas, and the Philippines) have never been linked by landbridges to either the Sunda Shelf or Australia, or to each other. They had limited mammal faunas, chance arrivals from Asia and Australasia.(www.archaeology.org)Although New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmaniawere joined into a single landmass called Sahul,The colonizers of Australia still had to crosswater in boats to reach this landmassThe longest stretch wouldhave been 43-54 miles(mc2.vicnet.net.au)In 1998, the Nale Tasih 2 project used Middle Paleolithic stone tools to build this boat and sail it across the Timor Sea to Australia(Bednarik, Hobman, Rogers 1999)Settlement of AustraliaEarliest sites are along the coasts and along rivers into the interiorControversies:1. When was Australia settled?2. Was there one major wave of settlement, or two?AustraliaThe earliest sites of 60,000 ya are in the north:Controversy over how old (only 40,000?)Used radiocarbon dating for 40,000 yr old dates,optical luminescence dating for 60,000 yr old datesJinmium, a sandstone rockshelter in the Northern Territory, TL to date stone artifacts from lowest level at more than 116,000 years old. Peter Bellwood, www.archaeology.orgBecause the dates are from TL rather than the more accurate single-grain optical luminescence, many archaeologists question this claimIf the Jinmium dates are correct it could be that archaic Homo once lived in Australia, as they did throughout the rest of the tropical and temperate Old WorldOther northern sites with old dates (>50,000 ya)were dated by optically stimulated luminescence:Malakunanja IINauwalabilaAmong oldest burials in Australia, 42,000-48,000 ya:Mungo Man and Mungo WomanWillandra Lakes region, Southeastern AustraliaNow dry lake beds, then was lake where peoplefished, collected shellfish, and hunted small game.Major drought began 40,000 ya.Over 775 artifactsMungo Woman was cremated, the remaining bones smashed, burned again, and then buried.(www.cap.nsw.edu.au)Mungo Man's body was covered with red ochre prior to burial.Skeletal remainsOne skeleton from Mungo is very gracileModern Australians have heavy brow ridgesand are robustWas Australia populated by two waves ofimmigration? Was first wave gracile and died out?ORDid the gracile immigrants become more robustwith time?Summary of Peopling of Australia:1. Everyone agrees people arrived by 40,000 ya2. Many agree they were there by 60,000 ya3. Dates of over 100,000 ya very controversial4. People had to use boats to reach Australia5. First settlements were along northern coast,then other coasts and along rivers into interior6. Uncertain how many waves of
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