An excavation at Laili collapse East Timor in 2019 Copyright:
Mike Morley
A cave on the island of Timor has given archaeologists an important clue to the route taken by historic people after they first made their approach to the Australian continent.
It’s identified from archaeological proof in Australia’s Northern Territory that individuals have been there a minimum of 65,000 years in the past. At the moment, when sea ranges have been decrease, Australia and New Guinea have been half of a bigger landmass generally known as Sahul.
Researchers consider there are two seemingly routes folks may have taken from South-East Asia to Sahul. One is a southern route through Timor. Alternatively, Homo sapiens may have travelled through Sulawesi, an island to the north of Timor.
Now, Sue O’Connor on the Australian Nationwide College in Canberra and her colleagues consider they’ve discovered proof ruling out the chance that the primary arrivals got here by Timor.
In different areas on Timor, the oldest proof of human occupation was lower than 50,000 years outdated. Archaeologists have been unable to search for older artefacts as, in any respect the opposite websites they studied, they hit bedrock somewhat than sediment layers that might probably include proof of an earlier presence, says O’Connor.
In 2019, her staff dug a brand new pit at a cave known as Laili, on the north coast of East Timor, and found a wealthy deposit of archaeological proof together with tens of 1000’s of stone instruments, proving that people had occupied the island for 44,000 years.
Crucially, nevertheless, this layer of occupation was underlain by sediments with no proof of people. This implies it’s seemingly that earlier than 44,000 years in the past, folks have been absent, says O’Connor.
“This is the first time in Timor that we have sterile, non-occupation layers below evidence of people’s presence,” she says.
O’Connor says such a transparent boundary between no proof of people adopted by tens of 1000’s of years of artefacts known as an “arrival signature”.
The cave’s outstanding location and entry to sources provides the researchers confidence that it’s unlikely to have been missed by any early people travelling by the world.
“It’s a really, really big cave with a big flowing river in a braided floodplain and very close to the coast,” says O’Connor. “It’s a perfect place for people to establish an occupation base camp. You couldn’t find a more ideal setting.”
Due to the proof that individuals have been in Australia 65,000 years in the past however not in Timor till 44,000 years in the past, it means people most probably migrated through the islands to the north, says O’Connor.
“Looking at the layers in Laili cave, it’s like ‘bang’ – you can really see clearly when the people arrive,” she says. “It was like a line had been drawn between the two layers – before people and after people. It was so clear.”
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