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Sahul: Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania connected
Sahul is the continental landmass that united Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania during periods of sufficiently low sea level. Much of its former coastal plain is now underwater.
A larger connected landmass
Low sea levels exposed the Arafura shelf between Australia and New Guinea and the shelf across Bass Strait toward Tasmania. These connections changed as seas rose. They describe paleogeography, not modern national boundaries.
People still had to cross water
Sahul remained separated from Sunda by the island region of Wallacea and intervening seas. Recent modelling of dispersal within Sahul examines how terrain could shape movement after arrival. Simulated pathways are hypotheses evaluated against evidence, not directly observed journeys.
References: Salles et al. (2024) — Physiography, foraging mobility, and the first peopling of Sahul
The atlas’s time window matters
The map begins at 30,000 BP. Research on the first peopling of Sahul concerns earlier periods, outside this atlas’s timeline. Do not use its default 21,000 BP view as a reconstruction of the first arrival. To explore the later landmass, compare its northern shelf and Bass Strait while advancing the timeline.
References: Salles et al. (2024) — Physiography, foraging mobility, and the first peopling of Sahul