Borreggine, M., Powell, E. M., Fu, M., Yang, X., Weeks, E., Zhang, B., Wilkinson, K., Mitrovica, J. X., Tryon, C., & Meadow, R. (2026). Combining paleocurrents and sea level in a least-cost pathway model of human dispersal from Sunda to Sahul, 65-45,000 years ago. Quaternary Science Reviews, 381, 109950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.109950
Image courtesy of Xiaoting Yang
Successful season modeled pathways from Sunda to Sahul. Pathways from Sunda into Sahul from the least-cost pathway model for Austral Summer and Winter. Light grey shows a sample of all possible modeled paths between all islands. Bold pink and black lines illustrate the most likely Summer and Winter pathways, respectively. Time periods shown are the only simulations with successful crossings from Sunda to Sahul that took place only during Austral Summer or Austral Winter (i.e., travel did not take place outside of these seasons). A. 45 ka Summer. B. 45 ka Winter. C. 50 ka Summer. D. 50 ka Winter. E. 55 ka Summer.