Good discussion here of the peopling of #Sahul by a 'long chronology', that is reaching New Guinea and Australia by 60,000 years.
Previous data showing Aus and PNG populations carry the signature of Neanderthal interbreeding (some 55-50 Kya in the Middle East) suggests the 'chronology' was more recent OR all the first wave left no descendants today. But these calibrated #mtDNA results suggest different, people do descend from the early pioneers, entering via two routes, the main one N Indonesia-Philippines, and another southerly one.
#archaeogenetics #maritimearchaeology
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-guineans-aboriginal-australians-descend-groups.html

New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians descend from two groups who arrived 60,000 years ago, research suggests
A collaboration between the University of Huddersfield's Archaeogenetics Research Group and the University of Southampton's Center for Maritime Archaeology, has clarified the first settlement of New Guinea and Australia by modern humans, Homo sapiens—refining our understanding of the origins of seafaring and maritime mobility.



