DNA study reveals Aboriginal Australians as oldest civilization on Earth

A new genomic study has revealed that Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilization on Earth, with ancestries stretching back roughly 75,000 years.

In a study published in the journal Nature[,]…a group of international researchers…collected genomic data on 83 Aboriginal Australians and 25 Highland Papuans from Papua New Guinea.

The findings indicated their ancestors had diverged from Eurasians 57,000 years ago, following a single exodus from Africa around 75,000 years ago.

The data may show Aboriginal Australians came to the continent as early as 31,000 years ago.

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[David Lambert, an evolutionary biologist at Griffith University] said that this study — which collected genomic data from 83 Aboriginals who spoke Pama-Nyungan — laid the foundation for understanding how Aboriginal Australian populations changed over time.

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“In a real sense, the most important thing about the paper is that we have nine Aboriginal elders as co-authors, who were involved with talking to indigenous groups across Australia,” said Lambert.

“We were trying to break down the distinction between scientists and indigenous people,” added Lambert, who asserted the importance of indigenous communities playing an active role in research about themselves.