Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist
Evidence of human occupation in southeast Indonesia 42,000 years ago sheds light on the route that ancient people took into the region including Australia.
Archaeological finds were recovered at Elivavan on Indonesia’s Tanimbar Islands. The island group is less than 600km north of Australian city Darwin, making them among the closest Indonesian island group to the Australian continent.
Tanimbar is located just off the so-called Sahul shelf – the landmass which includes both Australia and the island of New Guinea.
The new discovery is reported in a paper published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
“Along with tiny fragments of pottery we also found evidence of things like bones, shells and sea urchins that point to the island’s role as a hub for early maritime activities,” says lead author Hendri Kaharudin, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University (ANU).
“The question of how our early ancestors arrived there from Southeast Asia is one of the most captivating in prehistoric migration, mainly because of the vast distances covered and advanced seafaring skills that would have been required,” Kaharudin explains.
Since the mid-20th century, Kaharudin says, there have been 2 competing theories as to which route ancient humans took as they migrated through Southeast Asia.
One is the northern path via Sulawesi and other islands. The other is in the south, crossing islands such as Timor and Tanimbar.
“This discovery marks one of the southern route’s earliest known sites, making it a crucial piece of the puzzle,” he adds.
The authors write in the paper: “The earliest evidence of human occupation on Sahul (Australia + New Guinea) indirectly demonstrates the use of seafaring techniques by modern humans. Since the islands to the north and west were never connected to the mainland, successful water crossings from mainland Southeast Asia were necessary.”
“They would have had to traverse bodies of water exceeding 100km in distance, regardless of their direction of travel,” Kaharudin says.
Such discoveries could help pinpoint the time and direction of the ancient people who first made it to the Australian continent.
“As more work is done in lesser-explored regions like the Tanimbar islands, I expect we’ll uncover more about early human life and migration patterns” Kaharudin says.
He adds that migration into Sahul was clearly not a single event, but “a gradual process involving successive waves of seafaring populations”.
“Coastal communities likely navigated shorelines, exploiting marine resources and establishing resilient settlements along their journey,” he says. “This island-hopping strategy facilitated cultural exchange and adaptation, shaping diverse societies across the land mass.”
