In most cases, 65,000 years During Australia’s human history, the now submerged northwest continental shelf connected the Kimberley to western Arnhem Land. This vast, habitable territory covered nearly 390,000 square kilometers, one and a half times the size of today’s New Zealand.
It was probably a single cultural area, with similarities in polished stone ax technology, rock art styles, and language discovered by archaeologists in the Kimberley and Arnhem Land.
There is plenty of archaeological evidence around the world that humans once lived on continental shelves (areas that are now submerged under water). Hard evidence like this has been recovered from underwater ruins around the world. North Sea, baltic sea and mediterraneanand along the coast North and south America, South Africa and Australia.
What is newly published Quaternary science research reviewNow, we will reveal the details of the complex topography that existed on the northwestern shelf of Australia. It was unlike any landscape seen on our continent today.
continental breakup
About 18,000 years ago, the last ice age ended. Subsequent warming caused sea levels to rise, submerging vast areas of the world’s continents.this process Divide the Sahul supercontinent into New Guinea and Australiaand separated Tasmania from the mainland.
Unlike other parts of the world, Australia’s now submerged continental shelf was considered environmentally unproductive and little used by indigenous peoples.
However, there is growing archaeological evidence that this assumption is incorrect. Many large islands off the coast of Australia – islands that once formed part of the continental shelf. show signs of occupation before sea levels rise.
stone tools It was recently discovered on the ocean floor off the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
But archaeologists could only speculate about the nature of the submerged landscapes that people roamed before the end of the last ice age, and the size of their populations.
Our new study on the northwest shelf fulfills some of those details. This area included islands, lakes, rivers, and vast inland seas.
Mapping ancient landscapes
To characterize how the topography of the northwest shelf has changed over the past 65,000 years of human history, we projected historical sea levels onto high-resolution maps of the ocean floor.
We found that falling sea levels have exposed a vast archipelago of islands on the northwestern Sahul shelf that stretches 500 kilometers toward Indonesia’s Timor Island. This archipelago appeared between 70,000 and 61,000 years ago and remained stable for about 9,000 years.
Thanks to the rich ecosystem of these islands, people may have used these islands as a springboard to gradually migrate from Indonesia to Australia.
As the last Ice Age descended, polar ice sheets expanded and sea levels fell by up to 120 meters. This completely exposed the continental shelf for the first time in 100,000 years.
The region included a mosaic of habitable freshwater and saltwater environments. The most notable of these features was Marita’s inland sea.
Our prediction is that this formation has existed for 10,000 years (27,000 to 17,000 years ago) and has a surface area of more than 18,000 square kilometers. The closest example in today’s world is marmara sea In Türkiye.
We discovered that the north-west shelf, just 30km north of the modern Kimberley coastline, also had a large lake during the last ice age. At its greatest size, it was half the size of Cutty Tandi (Loch Eyre). Many ancient river channels are still visible on ocean floor maps. These are thought to have flowed into the sea and lakes of Marita.
thriving population
a previous research He suggested that Sahul’s population may have grown to several million people.
Our ecological modeling reveals that the now submerged northwest shelf may have supported between 50,000 and 500,000 people at various times over the past 65,000 years. Population reached its peak around 20,000 years ago during the last ice age, when the entire continental shelf would have been dry land.
This finding is supported by new facts genetic research Based on data from people living on the Tiwi Islands, just east of the northwest shelf, it shows that the population was large at this time.
At the end of the last Ice Age, rising sea levels submerged ice shelves, water eroded once-productive landscapes, and people were forced to retreat.
As available land dwindled, those who had retreated would have been forced together. At this point, a new rock art style appeared in both worlds. Kimberly and Arnhem Land.
Rising sea levels and submergence of landscapes have also been recorded. oral history It is thought to have been passed down by indigenous peoples across the coast for over 10,000 years.
This latest revelation about the complex and intricate dynamics of indigenous peoples responding to a rapidly changing climate takes on added weight. call To further promote Indigenous-led environmental management in this country and beyond.
As we collectively face an uncertain future, ancient indigenous knowledge and experiences are essential for successful adaptation.
Kasi NormanResearcher, griffith university; chris clarksonProfessor of Archeology; University of Queensland; Corey J.A. BradshawMatthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Model Theme Leader at the Australian ARC Center of Excellence for Biodiversity and Heritage; flinders university; Frederick SartreEcology Researcher at the ARC Center of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage; flinders universityand tristen ann nollie jonesAcademic Fellow; University of Sydney
This article is republished from conversation Under Creative Commons License.read Original work.