Scriptorum · Journal article · Australian Geographer · 2015
Mouseion summary
Patrick D. Nunn and Nicholas J. Reid examine Aboriginal accounts of coastal inundation from around mainland Australia. They compare the geographical details in these accounts with coastal water depths and a reconstruction of postglacial sea-level change to estimate when the described landscapes could last have been observed.
The authors argue that many of the accounts may preserve memories of sea-level rise from more than seven millennia ago. Their dating method depends on identifying the places and changes described in the stories, then relating those details to former sea levels.
Nunn and Reid explicitly discuss uncertainty in geographical descriptions, changes to coastal landforms and the possibility of interpreting visible landscapes retrospectively. They also consider how culturally embedded practices of transmitting knowledge might sustain oral traditions across many generations. The paper presents an argument about the possible longevity of particular traditions, rather than treating every account as a directly dated record of a witnessed event.
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Details
- Author: Patrick D. Nunn; Nicholas J. Reid
- Publisher: Australian Geographer
- Published: 2015
- Type: Journal article
- Subjects: Archaeology, Echoes of Empires research
- Catalogue number: SCR-000017 · P5-S-ART-ARC-009
How to cite
Nunn, P. D., & Reid, N. J. (2015). Aboriginal Memories of Inundation of the Australian Coast Dating from More than 7000 Years Ago. Australian Geographer. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00049182.2015.1077539
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