December 03, 2025

New Genetic Study Places First Australians in “Sahul” 60,000 Years Ago

Matthew Tukaki Posted On December 3, 2025

A groundbreaking DNA study, published this week, suggests that the first humans to reach the ancient landmass called Sahul – which became present-day Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea – arrived about 60,000 years ago, via two distinct migration routes.

This pushes back the genetic timeline for the ancestors of modern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by more than 10,000 years compared with many previous genetic estimates (which had suggested arrival around 47,000–51,000 years ago).

For decades, a persistent puzzle haunted scientists: archaeological evidence — tools, ancient campsites, rock-shelters — pointed to human presence in Sahul as far back as ~65,000 years ago, but genetic studies repeatedly suggested a much more recent arrival.

The new research – the largest genetic analysis yet, covering 2,456 mitochondrial-DNA samples from Indigenous people across Australia and New Guinea – used refined models (adjusting previous assumptions about the rate of DNA mutation) to estimate that both major migration waves reached Sahul around the same time, about 60,000 years ago.

That alignment brings genetic data far closer to the archaeological “long chronology,” offering what some experts call the first comprehensive reconciliation between the two lines of evidence.

The new study suggests early humans used two separate seafaring routes from ancient Southeast Asia (the landmass known as Sunda) to Sahul:

A northern route, via islands such as the Philippines and Sulawesi
A southern route, involving open-water crossings from parts of Indonesia toward northern Australia

Both routes appear to have been used concurrently during the same migration wave.

This implies early populations possessed seafaring capabilities and were not simply drifting by accident – challenging long-held assumptions about the technological and navigational abilities required for early human settlement of Australasia.

For many Indigenous communities across Australia and Papua New Guinea, this new genetic evidence reinforces what oral histories and traditions have long asserted: that they are among the oldest continuous cultures in the world, with deep, unbroken ties to Country stretching back tens of thousands of years.

The findings challenge narrow, Eurocentric timelines of human history – and offer scientific recognition of a presence in Sahul that predates civilizations typically considered “ancient” by many global standards.

Not all scientists are ready to declare the question settled. Some caution that even with refined molecular clocks, uncertainties remain about mutation rates, possible bottlenecks, and the interpretation of genetic lineage data.

Others point out that genetic ancestry does not automatically map to every migratory wave – it’s possible earlier groups arrived whose lineages did not survive in today’s populations, or that genetic drift and subsequent mixing mask more complex histories.

In short: while the new paper makes a very strong case for a ~60,000-year arrival and two-route migration, the story remains dynamic. Further ancient-DNA work, archaeological discoveries, and interdisciplinary research will be needed to refine the picture.

This research doesn’t just rewrite a scientific timeline – it reshapes how we understand human history, migration, and connection to land. It underscores the remarkable endurance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures – their ancestors survived ice ages, rising seas, and millennia of change, yet remained deeply rooted on land and sea country.

If anything, this study strengthens a central truth: the story of Australia’s First Peoples is not a marginal footnote. It is – as ongoing research continues to confirm – one of the oldest and most continuous human stories on Earth.