Darlene Applegate
Anth 335
4/10/08
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF THE PEOPLING OF AUSTRALIA
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Definitions
1. Australia includes main
continent not surrounding
islands.
2. Southeast Asia includes present-day countries
of Thailand,
Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia; first migrants probably from here.
3. The Pleistocene Epoch is geological
time period 1.8 million
to 12,000 years ago (Smith 2004); this is the time when the first
migrants arrived.
4. Archaeology is the study of past based
on material remains; it is the discipline most suited to studing the
peopling of Australia.
B. Thesis
1. This paper examines archaeological
evidence of when
humans first entered Australia, how the first migrants may have entered
Australia, and who the first migrants might have been.
II. WHEN DID HUMANS FIRST ENTER AUSTRALIA?
A. The possible dates are controversial.
1. Dates between 30-40,000 years ago
usually widely accepted
(Smith 2004).
2. Dates older than 40,000 years ago (up to
55-60,000 years ago)
are controversial (Smith 2004).
B. There are several early archaeological sites.
1. Lake Mungo is one of the earliest sites
in Australia.
a. It is dated at 36-28,000 years BP
(Adams 1999).
b. It contained one cremated burial, one of
oldest human remains in Australia.
c. Artifacts include stone tools, hearths, and
animal bones.
d. "Lake Mungo is significant because it
provides actual physical
evidence of human beings in Australia" (Adams 1999:8)
e. It is located in southeast Australia.
2. Devil's Lair
a. It is dated at 32,500-23,000 years BP
(Chaikin 1998).
b. Artifacts include stone tools, hearths, and
animal bones.
c. "Devil's Lair represents a seasonal camp of a
small hunting-gathering
group" (Chaikin 1998:48)
d. It is located in southwest Australia.
III. HOW DID HUMANS FIRST ENTER AUSTRALIA?
etc. ....
IV. WHO WERE THE FIRST MIGRANTS INTO AUSTRALIA?
etc. .....
V. CONCLUSIONS
A. The most widely accepted time frame for
peopling of Australia
is 30,000-40,000 years ago.
B. The first migrants probably used water craft to
reach Australia.
C. Based on skeletal evidence, first migrants
probably island-hopped
from southeast Asia.
D. I think there is insufficient archaeological
evidence to support
a pre-40,000 migration to Australia.
E. We need more archaeological investigations and
more radiocarbon
dates.
REFERENCES
Adams, R. J.
1999 The Lake Mungo, AustraliaExcavations.
The University Press of Queensland, Perth.
Chaikin, R. M.
1998 When Did Humans First Enter Australia? American Antiquity
86:44-58.
Smith, T.
2004 Concerning the Peopling of Australia. Current
Anthropology 59(3):120-149.
Thompson, B.
2001 The Peopling of Australia.
Academic Press, New York.
Wilson, L. W.
1992 Recent Archaeological
Excavations at Phillo Rockshelter, Australia. Penguin
Books,
New York.
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