From Kakadu to Kutikina: the southern continent at 18000 years ago

People had managed to colonize the Australian continent perhaps 20 000 years before the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), conventionally targeted at 18 000 years ago. To do this they had to cross at least 80-100 km of open ocean, even during climatic phases when the sea-level was lower than at present. These deep straits, together with areas of fully oceanic islands constitute the region of `Wallacea’ situated in the eastern part of the Indo-Malay archipelago, and separating the continental shelf of Sunda on the Asian side, and of Sahul on the Australian. The latter consists of Australia proper, together with the subcontinental sized island of New Guinea and to the south, Tasmania and Kangaroo Island.