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Articles on First Australians

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S. Anna Florin.

Burnt ancient nutshells reveal the story of climate change at Kakadu — now drier than ever before

Tiny nutshell fragments, found at a rock shelter in the Kakadu region, have helped researchers track past climate change in the region.
The first people to walk along the shores of northern Australia arrived more than 50,000 years ago. Corey Bradshaw

An incredible journey: the first people to arrive in Australia came in large numbers, and on purpose

New research shows just how many first people were needed to create a viable population in what is now Australia.
Humans would have first seen Kata Tjuta very shortly after arriving in Australia 50,000 years ago. Alan Cooper

When did Aboriginal people first arrive in Australia?

Aboriginal Australians have effectively been on their country for as long as modern human populations have been outside of Africa. We have a limit as to how long ago that was: around 50,000 years.
It’s been 50 years since the find of burnt bones in ancient soil, eroded from deep in shoreline dune in NSW. Jim Bowler

Time to honour a historical legend: 50 years since the discovery of Mungo Lady

It’s been half a century since Jim Bowler discovered Mungo Lady, which changed the course of Australian history. But now he says the find has fallen off the national radar, leaving a legacy of shame.
Sunset looking across Port Warrender to the Mitchell Plateau on the Kimberley coast. It is in Wunambal Gaambera country. Mark Jones Films (with permission)

How to get to Australia … more than 50,000 years ago

The first people to make it to Australia could have navigated their way by sea crossing, reaching the north-west coastline of the island continent more than 50,000 years ago.
Lake Mungo and the surrounding Willandra Lakes of NSW were established around 150,000 years ago. from www.shutterstock.com

The Dreamtime, science and narratives of Indigenous Australia

New techniques for genetic analysis are helping us build more detailed and accurate stories about the ancient histories of the first Australians.
On expedition with Norman Tindale and local Aboriginal group at a rock shelter at Bathurst Head (Thartali) in eastern Cape York Peninsula, 1927. Photo by Herbert Hale/South Australian Museum, Archives Norman Tindale Collection (AA 338/5/4/41)

DNA reveals Aboriginal people had a long and settled connection to country

Aboriginal people stayed settled in places across Australia for 50,000 years until Europeans arrived, showing a strong connection with the land.
What it could have looked like when humans and megafauna lived together: a giant macropod Procoptodon goliah in the foreground, while Thylacinus cynocephalus hunts for prey nearby. A herd of Zygomaturus can be see on the lake edge of the ancient Willandra system. Illustration by Laurie Beirne

Aboriginal Australians co-existed with the megafauna for at least 17,000 years

The extinction of the giant reptiles, marsupials and birds that once called Australia home has been the subject of much debate, including the role early Australians may have had on their fate.
Professor Eske Willerslev talks to Aboriginal elders in the Kalgoorlie area in southwestern Australia. Preben Hjort, Mayday Film

DNA reveals a new history of the First Australians

New DNA research working with Indigenous Australians is answering many of the questions about when and where the First Australians emerged many thousands of years ago.
The original excavation of Mungo Man, found near Lake Mungo in southwestern New South Wales, Australia. Wilfred Shawcross.

New DNA study confirms ancient Aborigines were the First Australians

Research first published in 2001 has been used to question of whether Aboriginal People were the First Australians. So why not re-test those results with improved techniques and equipment?

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