A research study has revealed that the now-submerged northwest Sahul region of Australia was once home to around half a million people. In the Late Pleistocene epoch (71,000-59,000 years ago), the Northwest Shelf of Sahul had the combined landmass of Australia and New Guinea at times of lower sea level.
According to a study published in Quaternary Science Reviews on December 16, this vast region covered around 390,000 square kilometers, an area one-and-a-half times larger than New Zealand today.
The rapid rise in global sea level caused drastic changes
According to the study, this shelf could have supported populations ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 people at various times.
However, due to rapid global sea level rises between 14,500-14,100 years ago and between 12,000 and 9,000 years ago, approximately 50% of the Northwest Shelf was inundated, causing profound changes in the space of human life spans.
According to the study, these calamitic events may have triggered the retreat of human populations ahead of the encroaching coastline, as evidenced by peaks in occupational intensity at archaeological sites throughout the Kimberley and Arnhem, as well as the sudden appearance of distinct new rock art styles in both regions.
“The presence of this extensive archipelago likely facilitated the successful dispersal of the first maritime explorers from Wallacea—the region of modern-day Indonesia—providing a familiar environment for their adaptation to the vast continent of Sahul,” Lead researcher Kasih Norman said.
The study emphasizes the importance of studying early human migration
The study emphasizes the importance of now-submerged continental margins in early human expansions.
“The temptation to overlook the continental shelf margins of Late Pleistocene Sahul in discussions of early peopling and expansion risks oversimplification and misunderstanding of this pivotal period in history,” Norman added.
The study concludes that the implications of these findings highlight the need to rethink the study of early human migration and the impact of climate change on ancient populations.