Australian Archaeolinguistics

Claire Bowern; Bastien Llamas; Luisa Miceli; Raymond Tobler; Pete Veth

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192868350.013.27

Australian Archaeolinguistics

Claire Bowern
, Bastien Llamas
, Luisa Miceli
, Raymond Tobler
, Pete Veth

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference paper › Chapter › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Oxford Handbook of Archaeology and Language
Editors	Martine Robbeets, Mark Hudson
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Chapter	27
Pages	518-539
Number of pages	22
ISBN (Electronic)	9780191964299
ISBN (Print)	9780192868350
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192868350.013.27
Publication status	Published - 22 Jul 2025

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10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192868350.013.27

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title = "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.",

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AU - Llamas, Bastien

AU - Miceli, Luisa

AU - Tobler, Raymond

AU - Veth, Pete

PY - 2025/7/22

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AB - 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.

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UR - https://onesearch.library.uwa.edu.au/permalink/61UWA_INST/1vk1d8f/alma991712850002101

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BT - The Oxford Handbook of Archaeology and Language

A2 - Robbeets, Martine

A2 - Hudson, Mark

PB - Oxford University Press

ER -

Australian Archaeolinguistics

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