Dating of Australian Remains Backs Theory of Early Migration of Humans

The newest dating of an archaeological site in Australia supports the "out of Africa" theory of human migration. Human remains found at Lake Mungo, in southeastern Australia, were formerly dated as being 62,000 years old. However, a new team of archaeologists have revised that date to be closer to 40,000 years old. This new dating now supports the theory that human society substantially changed around 50,000 years ago, a change which allowed migration and perhaps even language. Furthermore, the new dating is now consistent with the prevalent "out of Africa" theory which claims that humans similar to present-day man left Africa in a mass migration. Still to be resolved is how these humans were able to make the journey from Africa to Australia. Despite lower sea levels at the time, early humans would still have had to sail fifty miles from the coast of Southeast Asia to the land mass that was to become Australia. While many other archaeological finds confirm advances in human society at a similar time, scientists have yet to discover sites midway between Africa and Australia that would point to a concentrated migration. - YaleGlobal