Led by Emeritus Professor Lyndall Ryan, a historian at the university, the research has also revised a previous figure of 302 massacre sites - between 1788 and 1930 - to more than 400.

The new figures are part of stage four of a research project at the university currently in its eighth year.

Professor Ryan said the recent stage points to an increase in massacres after 1860.

"More massacres happened in the period 1860 to 1930 than in the period 1788 to 1860," Professor Ryan said.

"We find that the massacres are becoming better organised and there seems to be a more ruthless approach on the part of the perpetrators to the massacring of Aboriginal people."

The project's website features an interactive map - showing sites of massacres and the number of people killed - along with a database of sources such as settler diaries, newspaper reports, Aboriginal evidence and government archives which corroborate the events.

Identified by the map are six massacre sites around the Hunter, taking the lives of over 60 First Nations people in total.

Worimi man and Aboriginal historian at the university, Emeritus Professor John Maynard, said accounts from the time describe the Hunter "at war".

He said the research is "just the tip of the iceberg".

"The new figure of 10,000 is a step up. But to me and most Aboriginals and scholars that is a very conservative figure," Professor Maynard said.

"I know there are some really strict markers in this research to verify deaths so I think as the research continues the numbers will keep on growing.

"There are reports of 300 Aboriginals killed in reprisals for the Wills family massacre. Events like this aren't included in the figure yet."

The website which hosts the research states that "in some cases the actual deaths may have been many more".

"The estimates of the number of people massacred are conservative and include only those we can be reasonably sure were killed during the massacre or immediately afterwards," the website reads.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Also identified by stage four of the research are 19 recorded "genocidal massacres", which Professor Ryan describes as a series of massacres carried out over several weeks, often in reprisal for the killing of a colonist of pastoralist.

"They weren't an accident. They were designed to get Aboriginal people out of the way, whether it was to 'teach them a lesson', or to make them so timid that they were easier to employ," Professor Ryan said.

"But clearly, I think the overall purpose was to reduce the population of Aboriginal people in Australia and keep them away from infrastructure such as telegraph lines and natural features like large water holes, so that cattle and sheep would have ready access."

One such series the research identified took place over several weeks from Western Australia to the Northern Territory and saw the deaths of over 220 Aboriginal people in reprisal for the killing of 'Big Johnny' Durack.

The research also included 13 frontier massacre sites which lead to an estimated total of 168 non-aboriginal persons killed during the period.

Professor Maynard, who was head of the University's Wollotuka Institute for six years, said making these figures available to the public is in an important step in Australia's healing process.

"It's pretty important for a country as a whole. If we are to heal our history we need to recognise it," he said.

"For so long frontier massacres weren't recognised and it was said Australia was 'peacefully settled'.

"The country wasn't settled and Aboriginal people people were killed right across the country often defending their homes."