In Large Numbers and on Purpose

A study team has established that the peopling of Sahul, the mega continent that included Papua New Guinea, mainland Australia and Tasmania, was not a random event but a well organised maritime migration. After considering many scenarios for the numbers that would have to arrive to be able to survive on the continent, the team concluded that 1,300 people arrived either in a single migration event or in smaller groups over a seven-century period. The study reveals that Australia’s first settlers had a highly sophisticated knowledge of watercraft building and navigation and were able to plan and execute complicated ocean voyages.

The study’s author, Flinders University Professor Corey Bradshaw, is Director of the Global Ecology Laboratory and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage.  He will explain the study’s methodology and its game changing revelations, and then join a Q+A session.

Manning Clark House gratefully acknowledges the significant financial contribution of Richard Barnard of Brisbane to the expenses of this event.

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