Aboriginal stories of submerged coastlines match geological data at 21 sites. Research by Patrick Nunn and Nicholas Reed published in Australian Geographer Stories describe walking to islands now kilometers offshore and forests under the sea Sea level rose approximately 120 meters when glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age
Research by Patrick Nunn and Nicholas Reed found that Aboriginal oral histories describe walking to islands now kilometers offshore and forests under the sea. Sea level rose roughly 120 meters when glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age, drowning coastlines. At 21 different locations, these stories align with bathymetric data showing submerged landmasses. The researchers note these stories are preserved precisely because the ocean destroys physical evidence - oral memory became the only archive.
Key Facts
- Research by Patrick Nunn and Nicholas Reed published in Australian Geographer
- Stories describe walking to islands now kilometers offshore and forests under the sea
- Sea level rose approximately 120 meters when glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age
- Oral histories identify when Kangaroo Island was cut off from the mainland
- 21 different locations show oral history aligning with bathymetric data
- Communities accurately describe landmasses invisible since the early Neolithic
- The stories are preserved in human memory because the ocean destroys physical evidence
Related site: Karta — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: Something Strange Is Hidden in Ancient Myths by Michael Button