Sahul Continent: Papua and Australia
A picture of Sahul continent with all of the archaeological sites, map made by Graham Avery, 2020.
By Graham Avery
April 2025
Name of Sahul
In the 17th century, the Dutch named Sahul, 'Sahoel', after the sandbank that lies between Australia, Papua (New Guinea), and the Aru Islands. The term probably derived from "shoal," which refers to an area of shallow water, similar to Shoalhaven in Nowra, New South Wales, however, it could be derived from Arabic means for coastal shelf or sandbank between Australia and Timor. This term was widely used by the Dutch and English during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, "Sahul" is commonly used within the scientific community to describe the region involved in the human migration from Sunda to Sahul during the Late Pleistocene, approximately 55,000 years ago.
April 2025
Name of Sahul
In the 17th century, the Dutch named Sahul, 'Sahoel', after the sandbank that lies between Australia, Papua (New Guinea), and the Aru Islands. The term probably derived from "shoal," which refers to an area of shallow water, similar to Shoalhaven in Nowra, New South Wales, however, it could be derived from Arabic means for coastal shelf or sandbank between Australia and Timor. This term was widely used by the Dutch and English during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, "Sahul" is commonly used within the scientific community to describe the region involved in the human migration from Sunda to Sahul during the Late Pleistocene, approximately 55,000 years ago.
On page 144 in Historiografia, by Geoffrey C. Gunn, 2016.
References
- Duffy, J., 2024, Sahul, Birds of Sahul, Medium website, URL: https://medium.com/@president_78295/birds-of-sahul-7d42c6bcf6e0#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20the%20word,the%20Sahul%20Shelf%20in%201919.
- Fairbridge, R.W., 1948, page 143, Sahul, Discoveries in the Timor Sea, North-West Australia, Royal Australian Historical Society, Journal and Proceedings, Vol. XXXIV, Part IV, scanned in TROVE by National Library of Australia, URL: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-604759260/view?sectionId=nla.obj-611989921&searchTerm=Sahul&partId=nla.obj-604783746#page/n2/mode/1up/search/Sahul.
- Gunn, G., 2016, page 144, Sahul, The Timor-Macao Sandalwood Trade and the Asian Discovery of the Great South Land?, Historiografia, URL: https://geoffreycgunn.com/material/ReveiwofCulture53.GCGunn.pdf.
- Hall, C., 1973, page 38, Sahul, Captain Cook Latecomer?, Hemisphere, An Asian-Australian Monthly, scanned in TROVE by National Library of Australia, URL: https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/252513699?keyword=Sahul%20Shelf.
- James Cook University, 2016, 50,000 - 55,000 years ago, Solving the riddle of Australia's colonisation, James Cook University, Australia, URL: https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2016/september/solving-the-riddle-of-australias-colonisaton.