Aboriginals classified as Caucasian branch due to flawed racial framework. Archaeologists classified Aboriginal Australians as a primitive, archaic, or degenerate branch of the Caucasian race This classification supported the racial hierarchy with Europeans at the top Genetics shows Aboriginal Australians descend from some of the earliest Homo sapiens to leave Africa
Early anthropologists wrongly placed Aboriginal Australians in the Caucasian race. Genetics reveals they descended from early Homo sapiens leaving Africa ~50,000-65,000 years ago—carrying the oldest continuous genetic lineage outside Africa.
Key Facts
- Archaeologists classified Aboriginal Australians as a primitive, archaic, or degenerate branch of the Caucasian race
- This classification supported the racial hierarchy with Europeans at the top
- Genetics shows Aboriginal Australians descend from some of the earliest Homo sapiens to leave Africa
- They arrived in Australia around 50,000 to 65,000 years ago when sea levels were lower
- They did not branch off from Caucasians - all non-African populations branch from earlier African populations
- Aboriginals represent the earliest split in the out-of-Africa process
- They preserved genetic lineages that predate many traits associated with Europeans or East Asians
Source: Why were Aboriginals labeled “Caucasian” for 150 years? (he really does have blue eyes) by Timeless with Fred Snyder