Modern humans arrived in Australia 60,000 years ago and may have interacted with ancient humans such as ‘Hobbits’.

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A new study of nearly 2,500 genomes may finally have settled the debate about when modern humans arrived in Australia. Using a diverse database of DNA From ancient and contemporary Aboriginal peoples across Oceania, researchers have determined that humans began to settle in northern Australia 60,000 years ago and that they arrived via two different routes.

Experts have long debated that date Man first arrived in AustraliaA feat that required the invention of watercraft. While some researchers have used Genetic models To support a “shorter chronology” of 47,000 to 51,000 years ago for the arrival, others have marshaled it. Archaeological evidence and Aboriginal knowledge in support of a “longer chronology”, which places the first arrivals at 60,000 to 65,000 years ago.

In a new study, published Friday (Nov. 28) in the journal Science advancesResearchers analyzed an “unprecedentedly large” dataset of 2,456 human genomes to answer the question of when humans traveled from Sunda (the ancient landmass, also known as Sundaland, which today includes Indonesia, the Philippines and the Malaysian peninsula). Plum (Paleocontinent comprising modern-day Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea).

“This is the most comprehensive genetic study to date addressing this question, and it provides strong support for a longer chronology rather than a shorter chronology,” study co-author Martin Richardsan archaeologist at the University of Huddersfield in the UK told Live Science in an email.

The team’s analysis also revealed two separate sets of people coming from the northern and southern routes. “This finding fits very well with the archaeological and oceanographic/paleoclimate evidence for the entry into Sahul about 60,000 years ago,” Richards said.

To reach their conclusions, the researchers used Atomic clock approach, which assumes that mutations in DNA sequences occur at a fairly constant rate over time. By looking at differences in two DNA sequences, researchers can predict when those sequences diverged from each other.

In the study, the research team used several statistical methods to analyze mitochondrial DNA (which is passed down through the mother’s line) and Y-chromosome data (which is passed down through the father’s line). All of their statistical models line up with a date of around 60,000 years ago for settlement of northern Australia.

But genetic data also revealed two separate settlements at the same time. One group of people arrived in Australia via South Sunda (Indonesian Islands) while the other came from North Sunda (Philippine Archipelago).

The two groups were originally part of the same population that moved out of Africa 70,000 to 80,000 years ago, Richards said, and “we think they spread out into East, South Asia or Southeast Asia,” probably 10,000 to 20,000 years before they reached Australia.

“Our results show that Aboriginal Australians and New Guineans have the oldest unbroken ancestors of any group of people outside of Africa,” Richards said.

Along the way, these early human pioneers were probably as inbred as ancient humans tall man, H. luzonensis and also “the hobbit” H. florisiensisBut it’s currently unclear to what extent modern humans interacted with ancient people in the region, according to Richards.

Adam BramAn archaeologist from Australia’s Griffith University who was not involved in the study told Live Science in an email that the research supports the idea that early human movement played an important role in the early people of Sahul. “If I had my money, I’d put it in the ‘longer timeline’ model,” Bram said.

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This genetic study has had far-reaching implications for the antiquity of Australia’s Aboriginal peoples. “Many indigenous people believe they have always been in the country,” the study co-authors Helen Farran archaeologist at the University of Southampton in the UK told Live Science in an email.

“This data supports a really deep heritage for these communities,” Farr said, and “it tells of a close relationship of people with land and sea country for at least 60,000 years.” But it also proves that seafaring knowledge and skills, not found in the archaeological record, were critical to the survival of early humans.