The discovery may change the history of Australia

5 copper coins that were discovered in northern Australia could become evidence to rewrite the country's history.

The coins were identified dating back to the 900s. Researchers believe they originate from the ancient Kingdom of Kilwa in Africa (today near Tanzania).

Kilwa used to be a commercial port and has many connections with India between the 13th and 16th centuries. The area is now a World Heritage-listed ruins on an island off Tanzania. .

Copper coins were discovered buried under sand on an island in the Wessel Islands, northeastern Australia. (Photo: Daily Mail)

Meanwhile, Australia's recorded history has only begun since 1606, when Dutch explorers set foot on the land.

Researchers at Indiana University (USA) have been investigating how thousands of year-old copper coins have finally arrived across the Indian Ocean earlier than 6 centuries.

According to Ian McIntosh, head of research and Australian, strange coins were first discovered by a soldier named Maurie Isenberg in 1944. Isenberg once stationed in the deserted Wessel Islands on the coast. northeast Australia during World War II and found these coins buried under sand.

In 1979, Isenberg sent coins to an Australian museum. He also marked the location of their discovery with an X on the map.

At the same time, Isenberg also found four coins produced by the Dutch East India Company, with a release year of 1690. This finding reinforces the claims that Dutch explorers have discovered. the island before Captain James Cook in 1770.

2 of the 5 coins are thought to date from the 900s and originate in Africa. (Photo: Daily Mail)

The McIntosh researcher said that copper coins could refer to the possibility of seaborne trade routes , connecting eastern Africa, Saudi Arabia, India and the Spice Islands more than 1,000 years ago. , much earlier than the prevailing popular concept.

If this hypothesis is proven to be correct, it will mean that other civilizations have discovered and established relations with Australia six centuries earlier than Europeans. This may also refer to Australian history that needs to be rewritten.

Another theory is that the coins could drift to the coast of the Wessel Islands after a shipwreck. McIntosh's team is expected to take a trip to the region in July to authenticate the hypotheses and get the correct answer on how the coins appear in Australia.

Australian recorded history

Aboriginal people are believed to be the first to arrive in mainland Australia by boat from the Malay archipelago some 40,000 to 60,000 years ago.

However, the first known Australian landings by Europeans were carried out by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606. Other Dutch navigators explored Australia's west and south coasts. in the 17th century and called this continent "new Holland".

In 1770, British explorer James Cook explored the east coast of Australia. The British legal colony was first set up in Botany Bay in January 1788. In the next century, the British established many other colonies on this continent.

Such moves have undermined Australia's indigenous Aboriginal population due to conflicts with colonialists and new epidemics imported from Europe.

Australia fought in both the first and second world wars.