New DNA Study Reveals Early Human Migration to Australia 60,000 Years Ago
A collaborative research effort between the University of Huddersfield and the University of Southampton has provided new insights into the early human settlement of New Guinea and Australia. The study, funded by the European Research Council, involved archaeogenetics and maritime archaeology experts. Researchers analyzed human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Aboriginal Australians, New Guineans, and populations across Southeast Asia and the western Pacific. The findings suggest that humans arrived in Sahul, the combined landmass of New Guinea and Australia during the last Ice Age, around 60,000 years ago. This supports the 'long chronology' theory over the 'short chronology' which posits a later arrival. The genetic evidence indicates multiple migration routes from Southeast Asia, with lineages tracing back to northern Indonesia, the Philippines, southern Indonesia, Malaysia, and Indochina. 
