AUSTRALIAN ARCHAEOLINGUISTICS

Abstract

This chapter discusses the linguistic, genetic, and archaeological stories of the Indigenous peoples of the area now known as Australia (the southern portion of Sahul). When attempting to synthesize information from genetics, archaeology, and language for the deep past of Sahul, we are confronted with several seeming contradictions. On the one hand, the picture from genetics emphasizes continuity: rapid and early expansion (above 40,000 years ago), followed by fairly stable regionalism and some subsequent gene flow. The linguistic picture, however, appears to show a heavy disjunction, with one family, Pama-Nyungan, spreading and replacing most of the languages of almost 90% of the continent within the past 7,000 years. The material record shows a combination of stability, regionalism, and shift. This chapter explores some of these questions. Show more