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The Conversation
Dylan Gaffney, Associate Professor of Palaeolithic Archaeology, University of Oxford

New evidence from West Papua offers fresh clues about how and when humans first moved into the Pacific

Tristan Russell/Raja Ampat Archaeological Project, Author provided

In the deep human past, highly skilled seafarers made daring crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands. It was a migration of global importance that shaped the distribution of our species – Homo sapiens – across the planet.

These mariners became the ancestors of people who live in the region today, from West Papua to Aotearoa New Zealand.

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