National Museum of Australia - Evidence of first peoples (2024)

FAQs

What is the evidence of the first people in Australia? ›

The excavation and dating of artefacts and sea and land fauna from sites on the island provide evidence of the Aboriginal occupation of Australia dating back to a period between 46,200 and 51,100 thousand years.

Mineral pigments, such as ochre, provide the oldest evidence for human arrival in Australia. Used pigments have been found in the earliest occupation levels of many sites, with some pieces dated at about 50,000 years old.

Archeologists have dated these artefacts to be at least 65,000 years old. The Madjedbebe site revealed that Aboriginal people made and used stone tools, ochre crayons and other pigments. This discovery includes the oldest known examples in the world of the use of the micaceous pigment.

Australia is made up of many different and distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, each with their own culture, language, beliefs and practices. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the first peoples of Australia, meaning they were here for thousands of years prior to colonisation.

Paleogeneticists realized about 10 years ago that most Europeans and Asians inherited 1% to 2% of their genomes from Neanderthals. And Melanesians and Australian Aboriginals get another 3% to 6% of their DNA from Denisovans, Neanderthal cousins who ranged across Asia 50,000 to 200,000 years ago or so.

A new genomic study has revealed that Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilization on Earth, with ancestries stretching back roughly 75,000 years.

Aboriginal origins

Humans are thought to have migrated to Northern Australia from Asia using primitive boats. A current theory holds that those early migrants themselves came out of Africa about 70,000 years ago, which would make them the oldest population of humans living outside Africa.

Today, the term 'Indigenous Australian' is used to encompass both Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people. However many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do not like to be referred to as 'Indigenous' as the term is considered too generic.

Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement of Europe and the Americas. Increasingly sophisticated dating methods are helping us gain a more accurate understanding of how people came to be in Australia.

At 30 June 2021, there were 983,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, representing 3.8% of the total Australian population: One-third (33.1%) were under 15 years of age. The median age was 24.0 years. Three-quarters (74.5%) lived in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia combined.

Are Australian Aboriginals the oldest race on earth? ›

DNA studies have confirmed that "Aboriginal Australians are one of the oldest living populations in the world, certainly the oldest outside of Africa"; their descendants left the African continent 75,000 years ago. They may have the oldest continuous culture on earth.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is a key part of Australia's national identity and as a nation we must be vigilant in preserving the knowledge and wisdom of the world's oldest continuous culture.

Aboriginals had over 200 different languages. According to the place, they often call their land uthuru in the Midwestern portion of Australia; barna in the Murchison region; biik in the Woiwurrung language of Melbourne; and kurrek in the Wemba Wemba language of Victoria.

A white person is defined as a person who has European ancestry. In Australia, about 90.2 percent of the nation's population is white.

Aboriginality is not defined by “percentage” in Australia. To be “Aboriginal” in Australia you need to meet three criteria: Be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent; Identify as Aboriginal; and.

The first people probably came to Australia from around the area that is now Timor. To get to Australia, they must have made a canoe voyage of about 90 to 150 kilometres of open water, which would have been a remarkable maritime achievement.

The new models suggest that the first people may have first landed in the Kimberley region in what is now Western Australia about 60,000 years ago, and had settled across the continent within 6,000 years. PCA calculated on present-day and ancient individuals from eastern Eurasia and Oceania.

Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement of Europe and the Americas. Increasingly sophisticated dating methods are helping us gain a more accurate understanding of how people came to be in Australia.

Although Ever Present is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, it does not shy away from Australia's complex histories. The works challenge stereotypes about First Nations people and what defines their art.