Sahul

Sahul was a prehistoric landmass joining Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands when sea levels were lower. Rising seas later submerged the shelf connecting them.

Sunda Shelf: A shallow continental shelf linking mainland Southeast Asia with islands including Sumatra, Java, and Borneo during low sea levels. It formed the western landmass counterpart to Sahul across the deep-water Wallacean region.
Human migration to Sahul: The prehistoric movement of modern humans from Southeast Asia into the Sahul region. The exposed landmass shaped routes and destinations for the earliest settlement.
Continental shelf: A submerged, gently sloping extension of a continent that lies beneath relatively shallow seawater. Sahul emerged when sea level fell below the surface of its connecting shelf.
Wallace Line: A biogeographic boundary separating Asian and Australasian animal distributions across the Indonesian archipelago. It marks the deep-water divide that land exposure never bridged between Sahul and Sunda.
Wallacea: An island region between the Sunda and Sahul shelves, separated from both by deep-water channels. Its persistent marine barriers kept Sahul distinct from Southeast Asia even during low sea levels.
Madjedbebe: An archaeological site in northern Australia with evidence of human occupation dating to at least 65,000 years ago. Its early occupation places people in Sahul deep in the Pleistocene.
Arafura Sea: A shallow sea between northern Australia and New Guinea, over much of the Sahul Shelf. Its present waters cover part of the former land connection.
Megafauna of Australia: The large-bodied animals that inhabited Australia during the Pleistocene, many of which later became extinct. Their evolution occurred within Sahul's connected Australian and New Guinean environments.
Pleistocene: The geological epoch from about 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, marked by repeated glacial cycles. Its glacial cycles drove the sea-level falls that exposed Sahul.
Lake Mungo remains: Ancient human remains and archaeological evidence from the Willandra Lakes region of southeastern Australia. They document people living far within Sahul after initial settlement.

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