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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Phys.org [phys.org]:

It has long been assumed that Indigenous Australia was isolated until Europeans arrived in 1788, except for trade with parts of present day Indonesia [nma.gov.au] beginning at least 300 years ago. But our recent archaeological research [epicaustralia.org.au] hints of at least an extra 2,100 years of connections across the Coral Sea with Papua New Guinea.
...
This means societies with complex seafaring technologies and widespread social connections operated at Australia's doorstep over 2,500 years prior to colonisation. Entrepreneurial traders were traversing the entire south coast of PNG in sailing ships.

There is also archaeological evidence that suggests early connections between PNG and Australia's Torres Strait Islands. Fine earthenware pottery dating to 2,600 years ago, similar in form to pottery arriving in the Gulf of Papua around that time, has been found on the island of Pulu [wiley.com]. Rock art on the island of Dauan further to the north depicts a ship with a crab claw-shaped sail [researchgate.net], closely resembling the ships used by Indigenous traders from PNG.

Were the aborigines trading with other islands in Oceania?

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