Peopling of Australia Flashcards
where did people come from when migrating to Australia?
East Asia
when is is believed that Homo sapiens first occupied Australia?
50,000ya
what is the earliest site related to the peopling of Australia?
Madjebebe, N. Australia
what was found at the Madjebebe site and how old is it believed to be?
-stone hearths, tools, hatchets and ground ochre
-approx 65,000 years old
what are the names of the two other sites involved in the first H. Sapiens living in AUS?
-the carpenters gap site
-Lake Mungo
how old is the Carpenters Gap Site and what was found there?
-47,000 cal BC
-signs of human migration into more dry inland areas off the coast
what site is known for being the oldest continuous civilization in the world?
the Carpenters Gap Site
Lake Mungo was located where in AUS?
southeast New Wales
how old is the Lake Mungo site?
46-50,000 years old
what was found at Lake Mungo?
-2 skeletons that were anatomically mordern human in nature
-simple flakes
-chipped tools
-hearths
what was significant about the remains found at Lake Mungo?
**they are the oldest cremated remains in the world
-one is dated 40,000BP and the other is 24,710BP
Australia was once connected to what country?
New Guinea
what was the name of the landmass that once connected AUS and New Guinea?
Sahul
Sahul was also called what?
“the greater Australia”
-it linked Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea
what people in what areas are more closely related nowadays than anyone else in this world?
AUS and New Guinea
what was the name of a group of islands that once laid between AUS and east Asia?
Sunda Islands
the sea of islands that separated Sunda and Sahul is called what?
Wallacea
the Wallace Trench Line is significant why?
it runs through Wallacea, separating the flora and fauna of AUS
when were sea levels the lowest?
GLACIAL periods
**opened up land bridges, extended shore lines
when were sea levels the highest?
INTERGLACIAL periods
**shore lines receded, populations were isolated
what made Sahul and Sunda appear georgraphically?
glacial advance
there is genetic evidence to support there may have been a migration route from where, towards AUS?
the Horn of Africa, along Sunda and into Sahul
why did people potentially leave AUS?
-they were coastally adapted
-had paddle propelled boats
-access directly to the ocean (estuary)
when did the megafauna extinction take place in AUS?
40-50,000ya
how many species of animals died during the megafauna extinction?
-23 of 24 genera of land animals that weighed over 45kg died
how long after the arrival of humans in AUS did the megafauna extinction occur?
10-15,000 years
was there any evidence that humans hunted large game or had well developed hunting tools during the megafauna extiniction?
NO
