Ice Age struck indigenous Australians hard

By Wes Judd • September 27, 2013

Population numbers plummeted due to harsh conditions at the peak of the last Ice Age, says a new study.

This map estimates the areas in which Aboriginal groups congregated during the last Ice Age. (Credit: Peter Veth)

A NEW STUDY HAS revealed how indigenous Australians coped with the last Ice Age, roughly 20,000 years ago.

Researchers say that when the climate cooled dramatically, Aboriginal groups sought refuge in well-watered areas, such as along rivers, and populations were condensed into small habitable areas.

Professor Sean Ulm, lead author of the research at James Cook University in Townsville, says the vast majority of Australia was simply uninhabitable at this time. “Forests disappeared, animals went extinct; major areas of Australia would have been deprived of surface water.”

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