First Europeans in Australia

Who discovered Australia? Most people think of the First Fleet that went to Botany Bay 1788, but our ideas may require rethinking, following recent research on DNA analysis, and epidemiological studies of a rare disease. 

Replica of the DuyfkenWe all remember that Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and his achievement in the year 1492 is an ingrained part of our cultural baggage. One could fill a modest library with academic and popular studies of Columbus's arrival in what he thought was Asia. But what of the first European settlement in Australia? Most people think of the First Fleet that went to Botany Bay 1788, but our ideas may require rethinking, following recent research on DNA analysis, and epidemiological studies of a rare disease.

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