  Using the growth of population in Australia in the past 10,000 years it is
illustrated here how an illusion created by hyperbolic distributions may lead
easily to incorrect conclusions. Contrary to the published claim, there was no
change in the mechanism of growth of the ancient human population in Australia
around 5000 years before present (BP). Data for the number of rock-shelter
sites, interpreted as reflecting the growth of human population, are analysed.
They are shown to be monotonically increasing with time without any sign of
intensification in the past 10,000 years. The growth of human population in
Australia is in excellent agreement with the similar pattern describing the
growth of the world population.

Applications;Populations and Evolution