New dating confirms that people occupied the Australian continent before the earliest time inferred from conventional radiocarbon analysis. Many of the new ages were obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C dating after an acid–base–acid pretreatment with bulk combustion (ABA-BC) or after a newly developed acid–base–wet oxidation pretreatment with stepped combustion (ABOX-SC). The samples (charcoal) came from the earliest occupation levels of the Devil's Lair site in southwestern Western Australia. Initial occupation of this site was previously dated 35,000 14 C yr B.P. Whereas the ABA-BC ages are indistinguishable from background beyond 42,000 14 C yr B.P., the ABOX-SC ages are in stratigraphic order to ∼55,000 14 C yr B.P. The ABOX-SC chronology suggests that people were in the area by 48,000 cal yr B.P. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), electron spin resonance (ESR) ages, U-series dating of flowstones, and 14 C dating of emu eggshell carbonate are in agreement with the ABOX-SC 14 C chronology. These results, based on four independent techniques, reinforce arguments for early colonization of the Australian continent.