Aboriginal oral memory of post-glacial sea-level rise
Memoria oral aborigen de la subida del nivel del mar
- Date
- relatos de hace 7000-13 000 años (estudio de 2016) · confidence low
- Place
- Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia
- Credited to
- Aboriginal peoples of the Australian coasts; study by Nunn and Reid (2016)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
More than twenty stories from Australian coasts describe the flooding of lands now under water and match the geological reconstruction of the post-glacial sea-level rise. They would be among the oldest oral traditions preserved.
It is a debated interpretation: some authors argue the stories may reflect later elaboration or coincidence. It is listed here for the Nunn and Reid hypothesis, not as an established fact.
What it led to
- studies on the reliability of oral tradition as geological memory
- collaboration between archaeology and Aboriginal cultural custodians
- reassessment of the time depth of oral cultures