When did homo sapiens first arrive in Australia?

Question

When did homo sapiens first arrive in Australia?

Answer 1

Approximately 50,000 BC.

Answer 2

other theories suggest that humans were always here...

either way you look at it australia was inhabited by humans for 50,000+ years.

Answer 3

since the dawn of time

Answer 4

I think the first answer may be pretty close.  There is pretty good evidence of fires, presumably set by humans, 40,000 plus years ago.  The evidence is pretty sparse and inconclusive.

Answer 5

50,000 years is likely a good benchmark. There was a rise in animal extinctions between 45,000 and 55,000 years ago. This could be due to the arrival of humans or climatic change that allowed humans to reach the continent. Some controversial dates have been proposed that are are 62,000, 68,000 and 78,000 years ago.

This is very common, a generally accepted date and proposed dates that are much earlier. In the Americas, the "Clovis First" set 11,500 as the earliest date for man in the continental US. This has been pushed back with dates of 16,000 years at Meadow croft and Cactus Hill and proposed dates in South America going back 30,000 years.

Reaching Australia required watercraft. The "Wallace Line" establishes the borders between the Asian and Australian continents. Even at the lowest sea levels of the last ice age there were no land connections.

The sea crossing distances are of the order of 60 miles which are possible either by planned voyage or by accident. There's suggestion that Homo Erectus was on the Indonesian island of Flores some 800,000 years ago. So the colonization of Australia may be pushed back further

Answer 6

Homo sapiens first arrived in AUstralia around 10000000 years ago