About 70,000 years ago, off the coast of Australia, there was an expanse of land that could have been home to up to half a million people. Australian Atlantis was so large that it could have been useful for migration from present-day Indonesia to Australia.
For those who are in a hurry:
- The region has not been inundated many times in the last 70,000 years;
- Mapping of the landscape showed that the area could have allowed human prosperity;
- The study’s calculations showed that between 50,000 and half a million people could have lived there;
- This idea is supported by evidence that these people later migrated to other areas when sea levels rose again.
This Australian Atlantis, when above water, probably connected the areas of Kimberley and Arnhem Land, forming a large gulf currently known as Joseph Bonaparte Gulf.
Before sinking, Australian Atlantis may have been a habitable place
Despite being a large area, there have not been many studies on humans who could have lived on the currently submerged platform. However, in research published in quaternary science reviews, Scientists mapped the area 70 to 9 thousand years ago as well as examining sea levels to recreate conditions in the area at that time.
Between 71,000 and 59,000 years ago, sea levels were 40 meters lower, forming a winding necklace of islands at the northwestern tip of the Australian continent. Some time later, between 29 and 14 thousand years ago, during an ice age, sea levels fell further and an area 1.6 the size of the United Kingdom was exposed.
Australian Atlantis likely served as a springboard for migration into the region, but beyond that, mapping revealed a very attractive landscape for humans to thrive: a high, sheltered slope, a freshwater The sea adjacent to the lake and some rivers. , According to researchers’ calculations, 50,000 to five lakh people could have found shelter in these conditions.
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When the sea rose again, the population had to leave the area.
Although the numbers are only estimates, there is other evidence that the area was inhabited, or rather that the population living there needed to move to other areas.
When the planet began to warm 14,000 years ago, and again between 12 and 9,000 years ago, sea levels rose and the population living in Australian Atlantis had to leave the area. This hypothesis is supported by recently published research Naturewho analyzed the genetics of people on the Tiwi Islands, at the edge of the region, and found that new populations arrived there during the same period of warming.
Additionally, around the same time, stone tool deposits in outback areas of Australia increased and rock art began to include new styles, subjects, and more human figures, things that are likely linked to the arrival of more people into these areas. . ,
