Richard Collins: How a sketch of a bird redrew history

A RENAISSANCE painting and a picture in an ancient textbook are prompting a rethink of Australasian history. People first colonised the huge island down-under 60,000 years ago.

No major demographic changes occurred prior to 1606, when Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon, stumbled on what is now called Queensland. A century and a half later, James Cook dropped anchor in Botany Bay. Soon, the first British penal colonies were established.