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Landscape rules predict optimal superhighways for the first peopling of Sahul

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Listed:
  • Stefani A. Crabtree

    (Utah State University
    The Santa Fe Institute
    James Cook University
    Université de Paris, INSERM U1284, Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI))

  • Devin A. White

    (Sandia National Laboratories
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville)

  • Corey J. A. Bradshaw

    (Flinders University
    Flinders University)

  • Frédérik Saltré

    (Flinders University
    Flinders University)

  • Alan N. Williams

    (University of New South Wales
    University of New South Wales
    EMM Consulting Pty Ltd)

  • Robin J. Beaman

    (James Cook University)

  • Michael I. Bird

    (James Cook University
    James Cook University)

  • Sean Ulm

    (James Cook University
    James Cook University)

Abstract

Archaeological data and demographic modelling suggest that the peopling of Sahul required substantial populations, occurred rapidly within a few thousand years and encompassed environments ranging from hyper-arid deserts to temperate uplands and tropical rainforests. How this migration occurred and how humans responded to the physical environments they encountered have, however, remained largely speculative. By constructing a high-resolution digital elevation model for Sahul and coupling it with fine-scale viewshed analysis of landscape prominence, least-cost pedestrian travel modelling and high-performance computing, we create over 125 billion potential migratory pathways, whereby the most parsimonious routes traversed emerge. Our analysis revealed several major pathways—superhighways—transecting the continent, that we evaluated using archaeological data. These results suggest that the earliest Australian ancestors adopted a set of fundamental rules shaped by physiological capacity, attraction to visually prominent landscape features and freshwater distribution to maximize survival, even without previous experience of the landscapes they encountered.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefani A. Crabtree & Devin A. White & Corey J. A. Bradshaw & Frédérik Saltré & Alan N. Williams & Robin J. Beaman & Michael I. Bird & Sean Ulm, 2021. "Landscape rules predict optimal superhighways for the first peopling of Sahul," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(10), pages 1303-1313, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:5:y:2021:i:10:d:10.1038_s41562-021-01106-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01106-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Ellie Norris & Shawgat Kutubi & Steven Greenland, 2023. "Cultural accountability in the annual report: The case of First Nations entities in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 4453-4478, December.

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