austhrutime/first_boat_people.htm The dreamtime stories of a number of Aboriginal tribes tell of canoe crossings made by their dreamtime ancestors from islands to the north of Australia, which agrees with the thoughts of scientists about the arrival in Australia of the first Aborigines, based on archaeological evidence. The Riratjingu people of the east coast of Arnhem Land, believe they are descended from Djankawa who crossed from the island of Baralku with his 2 sisters in a canoe, led by the morning star to the shore at Yelangbara, on the east coast of Arnhem Land. They followed the rain clouds across the country. When they needed water they plunged their sticks into the ground and water flowed out. They gave their descendants their laws and taught them the names of the animals. The arrival of Aborigines in Australia was certainly before 50,000 and probably more than 60,000 years ago, the most widely accepted date for the peopling of Australia. At that time the sea level was much lower than present because a lot of water was locked up in glaciers during the Ica Age. Even with lower sea levels there was still about 70 km of ocean that needed to be crossed from southeast Asian islands to the closest parts of the Australian continent, Arnhem Land, Kimberley, and Cape York. It would have been possible to walk from New Guinea across a wide plain, but they would still have to travel across the seas to get to New Guinea.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 03:45:14 +0000
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