Aborigines the first humans, historian claims | Clarence Valley Lifestyle News | Health, Fashion, Food and Wine in Clarence Valley

IT'S a big claim in the world of anthropology, but Aboriginal historian Steve Strong likes to shake things up.

Mr Strong believes that Australia, and not Africa, was where homo sapiens originated 200,000 years ago.

He delivered his theory to the Philosophy, Science and Theology Festival in Grafton at Christ Church Cathedral on Tuesday.

Mr Strong used various evidence to back up his claim, including a 50,000-year-old boat in Western Australia, geology dating from 120,000 years ago near Lake George that was consistent with Aboriginal practices and art sites in Queensland from 116,000 years ago.

Mr Strong said he spent 25 years living with Aboriginal communities and was entrusted by elders to prove to the white man that Aboriginal culture dated back well beyond the accepted 20,000 years.

He outlined evidence of Australian Aborigines living in North and South Americas before the Indians were there.

“There are about a dozen archaeologists in the US that are trying to figure out what to do with all this data,” he said.

“Every child in Chile is taught that the people that came before the Indians were Australian - but we're not taught that here.”

Further to his argument, Mr Strong showed a slide of a person who appeared to be Aboriginal or Papua New Guinean.

“He's Japanese,” the historian said.

He said the Aboriginal people also ventured to Egypt and shared many cultural similarities with that race, including mummification of the dead.

“Many Egyptian beliefs come from the dreaming,” he said.

He referred to a 400-year-old Aboriginal skull that revealed an early form of brain surgery.

Contrary to popular belief, Mr Strong said that Australian Aborigines were the first to use language, create art and perform surgery.

He accepted his ideas flew in the face of accepted history.

“Art (is believed to have) started 20,000 years ago in Europe, so this wasn't very well accepted,” Mr Strong said.

Mr Strong is a high school teacher and author of two books - Constructing a New World Map and Mary Magdalene's Dreaming -with a third book due out later this year.

•  The Philosophy, Science and Theology Festival finished yesterday.