Aboriginal stories of submerged coastlines match geological data at 21 sites

May 19, 2026TheoryNew Research

Source: Something Strange Is Hidden in Ancient Myths by Michael Button

Site mentioned

📍 Kangaroo Island

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