Early people were rapidly adapting to climate change as they made their way towards Australia tens of thousands of years ago, new research shows.

Shells, fish bones and fishhooks found on the Indonesian island of Alor show how people lived and adapted to the environment more than 40,000 years ago.

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) led the team which excavated a cave - called Makpan - on Alor's southwest coast.

Their findings also confirm Alor's position as a 'stepping stone' between the larger islands of Flores and Timor.

According to Dr Shimona Kealy from ANU, analysis of artefacts found at Makpan show how inventive and adaptive its early residents were.

"This provides further insights into early modern human movements between the islands and shows how responsive people were to challenges such as climate change," Dr Kealy said.

Read the full article on the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific website