Did not Australia begin as a prison colony?
Human habitation of the Australian continent is known to have begun at least 65,000 years ago,
[46][47] with the migration of people by
land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now
Southeast Asia.
[48] The
Madjedbebe rock shelter in
Arnhem Land is recognised as the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia.
[49] The oldest human remains found are the
Lake Mungo remains, which have been dated to around 41,000 years ago.
[50][51] These people were the ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians.
[52] Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continual cultures on
Earth.
[53]
At the time of first European contact, most Indigenous Australians were
hunter-gatherers with complex economies and societies.
[54][55] Recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 750,000 could have been sustained.
[56][57] Indigenous Australians have an
oral culture with spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the
Dreamtime.
[58] The
Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically
Melanesian, obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and the resources of their reefs and seas.
[59] The northern coasts and waters of Australia were
visited sporadically for trade by
Makassan fishermen from what is now
Indonesia.
[60]