Radiocarbon and linguistic dates for occupation of the South Wellesley Islands, northern Australia

Abstract

Radiocarbon dates from three Kaiadilt Aboriginal sites on the South Wellesley Islands, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, demonstrate occupation dating to c.1600 years ago. These results are at odds with published linguistic models for colonisation of the South Wellesley archipelago suggesting initial occupation in the last 1000 years, but are consonant with archaeological evidence for post-4200 BP occupation of islands across northern Australia, particularly in the last 2000 years.