The DOI matches its Crossref record; 123 of the 124 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
When did Homo sapiens first reach Southeast Asia and Sahul?
Open accessAbstract
Anatomically modern humans ( Homo sapiens , AMH) began spreading across Eurasia from Africa and adjacent Southwest Asia about 50,000–55,000 years ago ( ca . 50–55 ka). Some have argued that human genetic, fossil, and archaeological data indicate one or more prior dispersals, possibly as early as 120 ka. A recently reported age estimate of 65 ka for Madjedbebe, an archaeological site in northern Sahul (Pleistocene Australia–New Guinea), if correct, offers what might be the strongest support yet presented for a pre–55-ka African AMH exodus. We review evidence for AMH arrival on an arc spanning South China through Sahul and then evaluate data from Madjedbebe. We find that an age estimate of >50 ka for this site is unlikely to be valid. While AMH may have moved far beyond Africa well before 50–55 ka, data from the region of interest offered in support of this idea are not compelling.
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“The hominin fossil record of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) indicates that at least two endemic 'super-archaic' species Homo luzonensis and H. floresiensis - were present around the time anatomically modern humans (AMH) arrived in the region >50,000 years ago.”
From Widespread Denisovan ancestry in Island Southeast Asia but no evidence of substantial super-archaic hominin admixture (2021) · cites this paper as [8]
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“However, even if we consider a more conservative estimate of a ca.50e55 ka for colonization of Sahul, as proposed by O'Connell et al. (2018), significant chronological gaps still remain between the Sahul and Wallacean records (Kealy et al., 2016;Hawkins et al., 2017).”
From Least-cost pathway models indicate northern human dispersal from Sunda to Sahul (2018) · cites this paper as O'Connell et al., 2018
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“this date has not been universally accepted by the archaeological community (O'Connell et al., 2018).”
From Least-cost pathway models indicate northern human dispersal from Sunda to Sahul (2018) · cites this paper as O'Connell et al., 2018
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Metadata
- Authors
- O’Connell, J. F., Allen, J., Williams, M. A. J., Williams, A. N., Turney, C. S. M., Spooner, N. A., Kamminga, J., Brown, G., & Cooper, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Utah (US)
- La Trobe University (AU)
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Flinders University (AU)
- Australian Research Council (AU)
- Defence Science and Technology Group (AU)
- Australian National University (AU)
- Charles Darwin University (AU)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2018-08-06
- Volume
- 115
- Issue
- 34
- Pages
- 8482-8490
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC6112744
- OpenAlex
- W2885064431
- Cited by
- 236
- References
- 124
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 22.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Keywords
- Homo sapiens dispersal, anatomically modern humans, Sahul, South China, human migration out of Africa, radiocarbon dating
- MeSH terms
- Africa, Archaeology, Asia, Humans, History, Ancient, Human Migration
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