If the ancestors of Australia's Aboriginal peoples reached the large continent known as Sahul perhaps 65,000 years ago, how and when did they reach the broader New England?
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To start answering this question, consider the illustration to this column from Alana Coper et al. It shows the land boundaries of the mega-continent of Sahul during the Last Glacial maximum when sea levels were much lower.
The red lines suggest possible settlement paths; the black dates archaeological dates where kya stands for a thousand years. Ignore the other elements.
The Aboriginal ancestors arrived in Sahul during the Pleistocene, a period of repeated ice ages broken by warmer periods. They arrived at a benign time with relatively comfortable temperatures and a higher rainfall sufficient to fill the lakes and rivers.
The archeological dates shown in black suggest that by 40,000 years ago the descendents of those first settlers had occupied the entire continent of Sahul from Papua and surrounding islands in the north to Tasmania in the far south.
The migration paths are subject to some dispute. One school of thought is that migration went down the east coast.
I disagree. I think that it is most likely that migration proceeded down the western slopes and immediate western plains where there was water and easier immigration paths.
Whatever the exact path, it seems clear that by 40,000 years ago Sahul was occupied. Herein lies a problem, for the dates we have for the broader New England are all later.
The Cuddie Springs site near Brewarrina suggests occupation as long ago as 35,000 years BP (Before Present). However, dates here have been subject to considerable dispute.
Excluding Cuddie Springs, we have a date of greater than 20,200 years BP from a hearth at Glennies Creek 35 kilometres north of Branxton in the Hunter, while a site on a former terrace of Wollombi Brook near Singleton suggested a date range of 18,000-30,000 years BP. At Moffats Swamp near Raymond Terrace, a date of 17,000 years BP was obtained.
On the Liverpool Plains, Aboriginal occupation has been dated to at least 19,000 years BP. Further north in South-East Queensland, the Wallen Wallen Creek site on what is now North Stradbroke Island shows continuous occupation from about 20,000 years ago.
While these dates are all later, Aboriginal peoples moving south must have passed through the broader New England, so we can reasonably assume some Aboriginal occupation by at least 40,000 years ago, probably earlier.
In my next column, I will discuss what that occupation might have looked like.
Jim Belshaw's email is ndarala@optusnet.com. His New England life blog is http://newenglandaustralia.blogspot.com/: his New England history blog http://newenglandhistory.blogspot.com.au/