AUSTRALIA HUMAN HISTORY 'REWRITTEN BY ROCK FIND'

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Archaeologists have found the first evidence to suggest that Aboriginal people have been in Australia for at least 65,000 years.

The discovery indicates their arrival on the continent was up to 18,000 years earlier than previously thought.

It was made after sophisticated artefacts were excavated from a rock shelter in the Northern Territory.

Researchers unearthed what they say are the world's oldest stone axes and ochre crayons, thought to be used for art.

The research, which has been peer-reviewed, was published in the journal Nature.

t is based on findings at the Madjedbebe shelter, near Kakadu National Park.

How does this change things?

Australian Aborigines are believed to be the world's oldest continuous civilisation.

However, there has been debate among scientists about when they arrived, with an estimate of between 47,000 and 60,000 years ago. They would have made sea journeys from the islands of South-East Asia at a time when water levels were much lower.

The lead author of the new research, Associate Prof Chris Clarkson, from the University of Queensland, said: "We have managed to establish a new age for first occupation in Australia and pushed it back by about 18,000 years beyond what was the previous established age of about 47,000 years."

He added: "This has huge implications for everything from the out-of-Africa story to the extinction of megafauna and Aboriginal peoples' own knowledge of how long they have been in this country."

Source BBC