Archaeologists have found the first evidence to suggest that Aboriginal people have been in Australia for at least 65,000 years.<\/p>\n
The discovery indicates their arrival on the continent was up to 18,000 years earlier than previously thought.<\/p>\n
It was made after sophisticated artefacts were excavated from a rock shelter in the Northern Territory.<\/p>\n
Researchers unearthed what they say are the world\u2019s oldest stone axes and ochre crayons, thought to be used for art.<\/p>\n
The research, which has been peer-reviewed, was published in the journal\u00a0Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is based on findings at the Madjedbebe shelter, near Kakadu National Park.<\/p>\n Australian Aborigines are believed to be the world\u2019s oldest continuous civilisation.<\/p>\n However, there has been debate among scientists about when they arrived, with an estimate of between 47,000 and 60,000 years ago. They would have made sea journeys from the islands of South-East Asia at a time when water levels were much lower.<\/p>\n The lead author of the new research, Associate Prof Chris Clarkson, from the University of Queensland, said: \u201cWe have managed to establish a new age for first occupation in Australia and pushed it back by about 18,000 years beyond what was the previous established age of about 47,000 years.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThis has huge implications for everything from the\u00a0out-of-Africa story<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0extinction of megafauna<\/a>\u00a0and Aboriginal peoples\u2019 own knowledge of how long they have been in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n The out-of Africa theory postulates on when humans first left Africa. The dates there have also been hugely debated and have ranged from between 60,000 and 100,000 years. What this new research does is push up the bottom of that range to 65,000 years.<\/p>\n It also confirms that humans would have arrived before the extinction of Australian megafauna such as a type of giant wombat and a giant carnivorous goanna.<\/p>\nHow does this change things?<\/h2>\n