DNA Reveals Two Distinct Routes Into Ancient Australia — Around 60,000 Years Ago

New genomic research analyzing nearly 2,500 mitochondrial DNA lineages indicates that the first people to reach the landmass known as Sahul (modern Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea) arrived roughly 60,000 years ago and did so by two separate migration corridors rather than a single voyage.

Study approach and context

Archaeogeneticist Martin Richards of the University of Huddersfield and colleagues compared mutation rates and genetic relationships among contemporary and ancient mitochondrial genomes from Indigenous populations across Australia, New Guinea, Oceania and Southeast Asia. They integrated those genetic inferences with archaeological records and paleoclimate data to reconstruct early dispersal routes into Sahul.

Two migration corridors out of Sunda into Sahul

The analysis supports two main entry pathways from the ancient Sunda region into Sahul. One group of lineages followed a southern corridor through what are now Malaysia, Java and Timor, entering Sahul west of present-day Darwin; the researchers call these the southern route lineages. A separate and genetically distinct flow used a northern island chain—from the Philippines and Sulawesi through northern Wallacea to Papua New Guinea—reaching Sahul via the northern tip of modern Queensland; these are the northern route lineages.

“We dated both dispersals to about the same time — roughly 60,000 years ago,” Richards said. “This supports a long chronology for settlement rather than a later arrival window of about 45,000–50,000 years.”

Patterns and implications

The team estimates that about 36% of the first-wave Australian mitochondrial lineages trace to arrivals by the northern route, while approximately 64% descend from ancestors who traveled the southern corridor. Genetic signals also indicate that some early groups arriving via the northern route continued rapidly into Near Oceania, reaching the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands shortly after entering Sahul.

Taking these movements into account, the authors conclude that most surviving maternal lineages in ancient Sahul and Near Oceania derive from ancestors who came via the northern pathway across the now-submerged northern Sunda and northern Wallacea around 60,000 years ago. By contrast, a substantial majority of lineages found specifically in Australia descend from the southern corridor.

Limitations and next steps

The researchers caution that ancient DNA from southern Asia and Sahul remains sparse. Recovering more prehistoric genomes from southern Asia, Wallacea and Sahul would refine the timing, routes and demographic dynamics of these early dispersals. Nevertheless, the findings strengthen evidence for early seafaring and multiple migration strategies during a critical period of human expansion.

Publication: The full study appears in Science Advances.