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![Map of Wallacea and neighbours showing Birdsell's (1977) potential Sahul colonization routes, and the various archaeological sites mentioned in the text. Calibrated date ranges are included in brackets, rounded to 1 ka. The extent of the continental shelf down to the À50 m bathometric contour is shaded in dark grey. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]](profile/Shimona-Kealy/publication/312067344/figure/fig7/AS:667915913285645@1536254971571/Map-of-Wallacea-and-neighbours-showing-Birdsells-1977-potential-Sahul-colonization.png)
Map of Wallacea and neighbours showing Birdsell's (1977) potential Sahul colonization routes, and the various archaeological sites mentioned in the text. Calibrated date ranges are included in brackets, rounded to 1 ka. The extent of the continental shelf down to the À50 m bathometric contour is shaded in dark grey. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Source publication
The palaeogeography of the Wallacea Archipelago is a significant factor in understanding early modern human colonisation of Sahul (Australia and New Guinea), and models of colonisation patterns, as well as archaeological survey and site interpretation, are all heavily dependent on the specific palaeogeographic reconstruction employed. Here we prese...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... understanding of the palaeogeography of Wallacea significantly impacts our interpretations of the region's archaeology, and is vi- tal for reconstructing movements of anatomical modern humans (AMHs) through the region and their first ar- rival on Sahul (Birdsell, 1977;Butlin, 1993;Kealy et al., 2015). Four possible routes of dispersal from Sunda to Sahul have been suggested (Birdsell, 1977;Sondaar, 1989;Morwood and Van Oosterzee, 2007), largely reflecting Birdsell's (1977) 'northern' (New Guinean) or 'southern' (Australian) routes (Birdsell, 1977;Kealy et al., 2015; Figure 1). While Birdsell (1977) favoured the northern route (Route 1) based on intervisibility be- tween these island chains, O' Connor et al. (2010) sug- gested that current archaeological evidence from Wallacea could be used to support either possibility, though with the oldest dates for AMH occupation re- covered from sites in Timor-Leste favoured the southern route (O'Connor, 2007; Figure 1). ...
Context 2
... possible routes of dispersal from Sunda to Sahul have been suggested (Birdsell, 1977;Sondaar, 1989;Morwood and Van Oosterzee, 2007), largely reflecting Birdsell's (1977) 'northern' (New Guinean) or 'southern' (Australian) routes (Birdsell, 1977;Kealy et al., 2015; Figure 1). While Birdsell (1977) favoured the northern route (Route 1) based on intervisibility be- tween these island chains, O' Connor et al. (2010) sug- gested that current archaeological evidence from Wallacea could be used to support either possibility, though with the oldest dates for AMH occupation re- covered from sites in Timor-Leste favoured the southern route (O'Connor, 2007; Figure 1). ...
Context 3
... (1977) intervisibility study favoured two routes into Sahul (Figure 1). The first (Route 1B) ran from present day Borneo/Kalimantan, through Sulawesi and the Peleng islands, down to Ambon and Seram and up across to Misool. ...
Context 4
... first (Route 1B) ran from present day Borneo/Kalimantan, through Sulawesi and the Peleng islands, down to Ambon and Seram and up across to Misool. The second (Route 2B) route passed through Java and Bali, across to Lombok and through the Nusa Tenggara island chain into Timor and down onto the Fantone Bank on the exposed shelf of northwest Australia (Birdsell, 1977; Figure 1). The intervisibility models constructed here show the greatest support for a northern colonization of Sahul. ...
Context 5
... ka, making any further interpretations of the site in relation to the initial colonization of Sahul dependant on refinement of this date. Should the maximum date prove to be correct, the site's location in Eastern New Guinea (Figure 1) still leaves a large geographic and temporal dearth of archaeological sites along this route. ...
Context 6
... 2003), and the oldest dates from the Kimberly region (i.e. Carpenters Gap 1 and Riwi; Figure 1) do not extend back to 65 ka (Balme, 2000;Hiscock et al., 2016;Wood et al., 2016). Archaeo- logical TL/OSL (thermoluminescence/optically stimu- lated luminescence) dates from Madjebebe do have ranges that overlap with the 65-62 ka period of inter- visibility; however they suffer from large error margins that make further interpretations unreliable ( Roberts et al., 1990;Clarkson et al., 2015). ...
Similar publications
The palaeogeography of the Wallacea Archipelago is a significant factor in understanding early modern human colonization of Sahul (Australia and New Guinea), and models of colonization patterns, as well as archaeological survey and site interpretation, are all heavily dependent on the specific palaeogeographic reconstruction employed. Here we prese...
Citations
... Considering intervisibility between islands, however, the northern route would have provided an easier path for early modern humans to reach Sahul [40,41]. However, many islands in Wallacea could have been visible along both possible migration routes and the estimated distances between each island ranged from around 10 to 50 km. ...
... It should be also noted that the past northern and western coasts of Sahul continent were visible from many locations with relatively higher altitude of these islands including Alor and Timor during the late Pleistocene [40,41,46], and intentional sea crossing by modern humans through sight navigation could be possible [47]. Bamboo raft is currently considered as the most potential method of sea crossing in Wallacea and into Sahul continent [19,[48][49][50]. ...
... Since such monsoon seasonality likely existed as well during the late Pleistocene [46], it was certainly possible for early modern humans to select the best season to navigate to Sahul from various locations in Wallacea, such as the Maluku region, as well as Alor and Timor. It is also important to note that the Sahul continent was visible from various locations of islands in Wallacea during the late Pleistocene [40,41,46], thus it was possible to estimate direction and duration of a sea crossing from the relatively small islands with limited terrestrial resources in eastern Wallacea towards Sahul. ...
Around 50,000 years ago, early modern humans migrated from Island Southeast Asia and via the Wallacean islands into the continent of Sahul in Oceania by several sea crossings. The Wallacean archipelago can be broadly divided into northern Wallacea comprising the northern Indonesian islands and most of the Philippine islands, except Palawan, and southern Wallacea with the southern Indonesian islands and Timor. This chapter focuses on the cases of early modern human maritime migration and resource use in northern Wallacea during the late Pleistocene. Of the Pleistocene sites in northern Wallacea, two important sites are presented and discussed: the Goa Topogaro cave complex in central Sulawesi, Indonesia, now dated to 42 ka, and the Bubog rock-shelter sites in Mindoro, Philippines, dated to at least 35 ka, based on our excavations. We discuss both localities in their regional context, as well as their role in maritime migration and seafaring in Wallacea and Sahul, and provide a comparison with other cases in the Ryukyu Islands, adjacent to northern Wallacea.
... Even prior to the introduction of farming, at least 40 taxa were thought to have been translocated across Southeast Asia to Wallacean islands, including game species such as deer, pig, buffalo, and junglefowl (Heinsohn 2003). These translocations likely increased with the arrival of modern humans in the archipelago (Kealy et al. 2017), probably for hunting stock or ceremonial purposes. The process further intensified with the introduction of domesticated taxa, including pigs, dogs, and chickens, which then became feral during the expansion of farming cultures from mainland Asia (Piper 2017). ...
Wallacea—the meeting point between the Asian and Australian fauna—is one of the world's largest centers of endemism. Twenty-three million years of complex geological history have given rise to a living laboratory for the study of evolution and biodiversity, highly vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures. In the present article, we review the historic and contemporary processes shaping Wallacea's biodiversity and explore ways to conserve its unique ecosystems. Although remoteness has spared many Wallacean islands from the severe overexploitation that characterizes many tropical regions, industrial-scale expansion of agriculture, mining, aquaculture and fisheries is damaging terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, denuding endemics from communities, and threatening a long-term legacy of impoverished human populations. An impending biodiversity catastrophe demands collaborative actions to improve community-based management, minimize environmental impacts, monitor threatened species, and reduce wildlife trade. Securing a positive future for Wallacea's imperiled ecosystems requires a fundamental shift away from managing marine and terrestrial realms independently.
... Even prior to the introduction of farming, at least 40 taxa were thought to have been translocated across Southeast Asia to Wallacean islands, including game species such as deer, pig, buffalo, and junglefowl (Heinsohn 2003). These translocations likely increased with the arrival of modern humans in the archipelago (Kealy et al. 2017), probably for hunting stock or ceremonial purposes. The process further intensified with the introduction of domesticated taxa, including pigs, dogs, and chickens, which then became feral during the expansion of farming cultures from mainland Asia (Piper 2017). ...
Wallacea—the meeting point between the Asian and Australian fauna—is one of the world's largest centers of endemism. Twenty-three million years of complex geological history have given rise to a living laboratory for the study of evolution and biodiversity, highly vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures. In the present article, we review the historic and contemporary processes shaping Wallacea's biodiversity and explore ways to conserve its unique ecosystems. Although remoteness has spared many Wallacean islands from the severe overexploitation that characterizes many tropical regions, industrial-scale expansion of agriculture, mining, aquaculture and fisheries is damaging terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, denuding endemics from communities, and threatening a long-term legacy of impoverished human populations. An impending biodiversity catastrophe demands collaborative actions to improve community-based management, minimize environmental impacts, monitor threatened species, and reduce wildlife trade. Securing a positive future for Wallacea's imperiled ecosystems requires a fundamental shift away from managing marine and terrestrial realms independently
... There is now broad consensus amongst researchers that the colonisation of Sahul was a protracted process involving deliberate maritime dispersals, with populations probably entering Sahul along the north coast of New Guinea via Sulawesi and into northern Australia (Arnhem Land) via Timor Birdsell 1977;Bradshaw et al. 2019;Kealy et al. 2017). The timing of colonisation is still hotly debated (c.f. ...
Coastal and lowland landscapes played a pivotal role in the dispersal of our species through Pleistocene New Guinea (northern Sahul) and were the focus of increasingly intensive settlement throughout the Holocene. This chapter assesses the current breadth of archaeological and palaeo-ecological records for the lowlands (= 100 m above sea level) and islands of southern Papua New Guinea to contextualise past human use of these dynamic landscapes. A meta-analysis of available radiocarbon dates (n = 687) suggests fluctuating but generally increasing population densities from the end of the mid-Holocene as people adapted their settlement strategies to stabilising coastlines and expanding maritime trade networks. The earliest cultural records thus far reflect post-glacial behavioural adaptations to altitudinally suppressed lower montane forests from 17, 000 years ago when temperatures were lower and coastlines relatively unstable. The limited visibility of cultural sites earlier than 5000 years ago can only partly be explained by post-glacial sea level rise having inundated former coastlines, with the region a potential pathway into the mountainous interior which has been utilised for at least 50, 000 years. Targeted research is now needed to identify inland and earlier settlement locales to expand our understanding of how adaptation to lowland ecologies influenced patterns of cultural and linguistic diversity. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Mike T. Carson; individual chapters, the contributors.
... As discussed by Bulbeck and Marwick (in press), archaic hominins had crossed ISEA seas to reach Sulawesi and Flores, and probably Luzon and Timor, but Southeast Asian sites dating to ~45,000 bp and later (calendrical rather than radiocarbon years) can be confidently identified with AMH (Map 3.1). Kealy and colleagues explain well the importance of maritime interconnections for early AMH in ISEA (Kealy et al. 2017). Connections between inter-visible islands not only fostered colonisation of Sahulland (Australia/New Guinea) by ~50,000 bp but also, as exemplified by Liang Sarru in the Talaud Islands, allowed the intermittent Pleistocene occupation of remote, marginal islands from which colonists could withdraw when conditions on marginal islands deteriorated. ...
... Accordingly, they appear to be related artistic traditions, with circa 30,000 bp the best currently available estimate for the onset of the maritime interaction that was apparently involved. On the other hand, the mooted connection between Sulawesi and Timor-Leste is less well attested; although they were connected by a chain of inter-visible islands (Kealy et al. 2017), these later islands are yet to be documented for rock art of potentially Pleistocene antiquity. Rabett (2012), Rabett and Piper (2012) and Piper (2016) extend the earlier research by Rabett (2005) into Southeast Asia's early osseous (bone and teeth) artefacts. ...
... Beads of olive shell and other marine shells date to 12,000-10,000 bp on Rote as well as Timor-Leste (Map 3.7). Notwithstanding the propinquity of these two islands, a land connection between them rarely if ever existed during the period of AMH occupation of ISEA (Kealy et al. 2017), and definitely not at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition when any cultural contact would have required crossing a small sea gap. Pierced Neritidae shells from Hang Boi probably dating to this same interval (Rabett 2012, 238-9) are likely to reflect an independent development in view of the distance (without intermediaries) involved. ...
... 40 A plot showing the changing sea levels in the Southeast Asian region over the past 100,000 years (afterLambeck and Chappell, 2001, but incorporating an isostatic uplift of 0.5 meters per thousand years, as calculated byKealy et al. 2017). ...
Throughout Southeast Asia, over the centuries the original traditional local astronomical knowledge has been subjected to varying degrees of Chinese, Indian, Islamic and Western influences. In this chapter we will overview the astronomical traditions in Mainland Southeast Asia and island Southeast Asia, and identify their foreign elements. Vietnamese astronomy was largely influenced by Chinese astronomy. Other areas of Mainland Southeast Asia were influenced by Chinese and Indian astronomy, and the Indian influence was sometimes substantial. Island Southeast Asia was influenced mainly by Indian astronomy and Islamic astronomy. As Southeast Asian astronomy has its special features, it is necessary to compare it carefully with foreign astronomy, and we shall see that there are various examples of what we refer to as ‘multiplex astronomy’.
... Fig. 19.3 A plot showing the changing sea levels in the Southeast Asian region over the past 100,000 years (after Lambeck and Chappell, 2001, but incorporating an isostatic uplift of 0.5 meters per thousand years, as calculated by Kealy et al. 2017). ...
For thousands of years the appearance of the night sky on a dark moonless night captivated people throughout Indonesia, including those on the island of Madura. Indeed, the Madurese have their own ideas about the night sky, and they used the appearance or the presence of different stars or groups of stars (asterisms) in everyday life, especially during farming and fishing, or voyaging to other Indonesian islands. The Madurese also had their standard cultural responses to unexpected astronomical phenomena such as solar and lunar eclipses. Before the advent of ‘modern education’, villagers did not understand the scientific reasons for these dreaded events. Even today, many villagers still behave in the traditional way when eclipses occur.
... As Fig. 2.3 shows, from that time sea levels continued to oscillate but followed a general downward trend until around 32,000 BP 1 when they began to fall steeply, reaching what is now known as the Last Glacial Sea Level Low at 22,000 years ago, when they stood 125 m below the present sea level. Lambeck and Chappell, 2001, but incorporating an isostatic uplift of 0.5 meters per thousand years, as calculated by Kealy et al. 2017). ...
In this chapter we discuss the major environmental changes that occurred in the Philippine region over the last 70,000 years, the arrival of different human populations, and our knowledge of their astronomical systems. We then identify future areas of research that we believe are important in fleshing out the changing nature of astronomical beliefs and practices throughout the Philippine archipelago. Because this region of island Southeast Asia is a unique field laboratory, some of the research projects outlined—especially in ethnoastronomy—have the potential to make an important contributions to international scholarship in the history of astronomy field. But, as elsewhere in the world, the nature of ethnoastronomy is changing rapidly, with on-going acculturation and elderly custodians of knowledge dying without passing on astronomical lore to younger generations, so some of the research projects suggested here must be carried out now, or not at all. The window of opportunity is closing rapidly, and never is the cherished motto of our ASEAN History and Heritage Working Group, “It’s Now or Never”, more appropriate.
... Three further papers by Kealy et al. (2016Kealy et al. ( , 2017Kealy et al. ( , 2018) remain more centrally concerned with routes that are determined by island intervisibility. The 2016 paper is part review but also draws attention to c.100 submerged Wallacean islands that may have been exposed depending on Pleistocene sea levels, arguing that lowest sea level points are less important than understanding the total seascape during the relevant colonisation period. ...
en Allen and O'Connell published “A different paradigm for the initial colonisation of Sahul” in the first number of Archaeology in Oceania this year (55: 1–14). We invited comments from several scholars and a riposte from the authors.
Résumé
fr Allen et O'Connell ont publié «Un paradigme différent pour la colonisation initiale de Sahul» dans le premier numéro d'Archéologie en Océanie cette année (55: 1–14). Nous avons invité les commentaires de plusieurs chercheurs et une réponse des auteurs.
... Three further papers by Kealy et al. (2016Kealy et al. ( , 2017Kealy et al. ( , 2018) remain more centrally concerned with routes that are determined by island intervisibility. The 2016 paper is part review but also draws attention to c.100 submerged Wallacean islands that may have been exposed depending on Pleistocene sea levels, arguing that lowest sea level points are less important than understanding the total seascape during the relevant colonisation period. ...
The questions of when and how humans reached Sahul, the Pleistocene continent of Australia and New Guinea, has remained a central issue of Australian archaeology since its development as an academic discipline in the mid-twentieth century. Modelling this event has persistently appealed to minimal assumptions – the simplest watercraft, the shortest routes, the smallest viable colonising groups. This paper argues that Australian archaeology can no longer ignore the way our understanding of this initial colonisation is being reshaped by current genomic research. It reviews this evidence and concludes that a colonising wave of hundreds or perhaps low thousands of people was involved. If correct, it suggests that we need to rethink our models, modify or discard the minimalist assumptions that have so far driven them and consider how this different paradigm affects our understanding of early settlement in Sahul.
