Peopling of Australia

Question 1

where did people come from when migrating to Australia?

Answer 1

East Asia

Question 2

when is is believed that Homo sapiens first occupied Australia?

Answer 2

50,000ya

Question 3

what is the earliest site related to the peopling of Australia?

Answer 3

Madjebebe, N. Australia

Question 4

what was found at the Madjebebe site and how old is it believed to be?

Answer 4

-stone hearths, tools, hatchets and ground ochre
-approx 65,000 years old

Question 5

what are the names of the two other sites involved in the first H. Sapiens living in AUS?

Answer 5

-the carpenters gap site
-Lake Mungo

Question 6

how old is the Carpenters Gap Site and what was found there?

Answer 6

-47,000 cal BC
-signs of human migration into more dry inland areas off the coast

Question 7

what site is known for being the oldest continuous civilization in the world?

Answer 7

the Carpenters Gap Site

Question 8

Lake Mungo was located where in AUS?

Answer 8

southeast New Wales

Question 9

how old is the Lake Mungo site?

Answer 9

46-50,000 years old

Question 10

what was found at Lake Mungo?

Answer 10

-2 skeletons that were anatomically mordern human in nature
-simple flakes
-chipped tools
-hearths

Question 11

what was significant about the remains found at Lake Mungo?

Answer 11

**they are the oldest cremated remains in the world
-one is dated 40,000BP and the other is 24,710BP

Question 12

Australia was once connected to what country?

Answer 12

New Guinea

Question 13

what was the name of the landmass that once connected AUS and New Guinea?

Answer 13

Sahul

Question 14

Sahul was also called what?

Answer 14

“the greater Australia”
-it linked Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea

Question 15

what people in what areas are more closely related nowadays than anyone else in this world?

Answer 15

AUS and New Guinea

Question 16

what was the name of a group of islands that once laid between AUS and east Asia?

Answer 16

Sunda Islands

Question 17

the sea of islands that separated Sunda and Sahul is called what?

Answer 17

Wallacea

Question 18

the Wallace Trench Line is significant why?

Answer 18

it runs through Wallacea, separating the flora and fauna of AUS

Question 19

when were sea levels the lowest?

Answer 19

GLACIAL periods
**opened up land bridges, extended shore lines

Question 20

when were sea levels the highest?

Answer 20

INTERGLACIAL periods
**shore lines receded, populations were isolated

Question 21

what made Sahul and Sunda appear georgraphically?

Answer 21

glacial advance

Question 22

there is genetic evidence to support there may have been a migration route from where, towards AUS?

Answer 22

the Horn of Africa, along Sunda and into Sahul

Question 23

why did people potentially leave AUS?

Answer 23

-they were coastally adapted
-had paddle propelled boats
-access directly to the ocean (estuary)

Question 24

when did the megafauna extinction take place in AUS?

Answer 24

40-50,000ya

Question 25

how many species of animals died during the megafauna extinction?

Answer 25

-23 of 24 genera of land animals that weighed over 45kg died

Question 26

how long after the arrival of humans in AUS did the megafauna extinction occur?

Answer 26

10-15,000 years

Question 27

was there any evidence that humans hunted large game or had well developed hunting tools during the megafauna extiniction?

Answer 27

NO