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What is the oldest continuous culture in the world?

Aboriginal Australians are widely described as having the oldest continuous living cultures on Earth. Archaeological evidence shows people have lived in Australia for at least 50,000 years, and some sites are dated to about 65,000 years. The San of southern Africa are also often named, on genetic evidence.

The claim for Aboriginal Australia rests on archaeology and on cultural continuity. Sites such as Madjedbebe in the Northern Territory have been dated to around 65,000 years ago, though some researchers argue for a somewhat later date. Rock art and oral traditions link present-day communities to that deep past.

Genetic studies published in 2016 found that Aboriginal Australians descend from one of the earliest groups to leave Africa and have lived in the same broad regions for tens of thousands of years. Few other populations have stayed in one land for so long.

The San peoples of southern Africa carry some of the oldest genetic lineages of any living humans, and southern Africa has evidence of similar tools and practices stretching back tens of thousands of years. For that reason they too are often called one of the oldest cultures.

'Oldest' needs care. No culture stands still. All peoples have equally long ancestries, and all living cultures have changed over time. The phrase means a long, unbroken connection between a people, their traditions and one land. It does not mean that a society has been frozen in time.

Words used here

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoplesCountryOral traditionHunter-gathererHomeland

Sources

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