The continent of Australia, which was first discovered and mapped by European explorers in the 1600s, was of course not the first time it started hosting humans in these years. In fact, migrations to this continent from other continents took place tens of thousands of years before the first discovery.
Research to date has revealed that many human societies set foot on the continent via islands in Southeast Asia. A new study sheds new light on migrations to the continent.
Migrations started 86 thousand years ago!
Scientists discovered two different human fossils, ranging from 68 to 86,000 years old, in a cave in Laos, between what is now Vietnam and Thailand. The age of the fossils was determined by five different dating methods.
Moreover, the cave where the discovery was made was also very important. The cave, named Tam Pa Ling, had previously hosted the discovery of several human fossils and jawbone fossils. These fossils were between 46,000 and 70,000 years old.
The new discovery made in the cave also pointed out that people who lived tens of thousands of years ago did not only follow the seaside and islands in their migration out of Africa. Some of the people also followed the woodlands and rivers.
Of course, the thing that tied the business to Australia was the location of the cave. It was known that this region was used in migrations to Australia. Of course, it is a mystery at the moment whether the group including the people whose fossils were found reached Australia. Still, this discovery is considered the oldest trace of migrations to Australia.
Of course, in these migrations made tens of thousands of years ago, people did not have to cross huge seas. At that time, Australia and Papua New Guinea were united and there was a mega-continent known as “Sahul”.
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