The Bradshaw, an ancient rock painting found in Western Australia's Kimberley region centuries ago, has always been a point of debate among archaeologists. Some say that the paintings, featuring human figures with tassels and long hair, have been created by a different group of people long before the arrival of the first indigenous Australians or the Aborigines.
But a biologist and anthropologist, Michael Westway from the Griffith University in Queensland, has confirmed --- with the help of genome sequencing --- that the paintings were indeed done by the Aborigines, according to ABC News Australia. They were the Australian descendants who left Africa 75,000 years ago, arriving in Australia some 50,000 years ago.
"We have this remarkable trail that has been recovered for the genomic sequence of the first Australians," he told ABC. "Many decades ago there were many hypotheses around but that hasn't really stood against any of the evidence."
The genetic studies that were matched against the Bradshaw painting were originally done by a team led by Eske Willerslve, a biologist from the Center of Ancient Genetics in University of Copenhagen back in 2011. It was published in Australian Geographic. It included human remains found in Lake Mungo and a rock shelter in Darwin. They all link back to the Australian Aborigines, reinforcing the fact that they were the first inhabitants of the continent.
The Bradshaw paintings are believed to be about 20,000 years old. "This proves an unbroken lineage over 2,500 generations - about 65 to 70,000 years," said Westway.
The anthropologist also said that no other DNA evidence suggests there have been other races or groups of people before the Aborigines in Australia, even as some theories point to the existence linking indigenous Australians to Indians.
"This just doesn't hold up against the huge body of scientific evidence," he said in the ABC News report.
