[SunkenCiv]

Thanks all for the surprisingly numerous replies!

• Keyword: aboriginalfolklore

Abstract: More than 85 percent of Australian terrestrial genera with a body mass exceeding 44 kilograms became extinct in the Late Pleistocene. Although most were marsupials, the list includes the large, flightless mihirung Genyornis newtoni. More than 700 dates on Genyornis eggshells from three different climate regions document the continuous presence of Genyornis from more than 100,000 years ago until their sudden disappearance 50,000 years ago, about the same time that humans arrived in Australia. Simultaneous extinction of Genyornis at all sites during an interval of modest climate change implies that human impact, not climate, was responsible. [1/8/99 Pleistocene Extinction of Genyornis newtoni: Human Impact on Australian Megafauna (Gifford H. Miller, John W. Magee, Beverly J. Johnson, Marilyn L. Fogel, Nigel A. Spooner, Malcolm T. McCulloch, Linda K. Ayliffe, Science, Volume 283, Number 5399 Issue of 8 Jan 1999, pp. 205 - 208 )]

In Horus, a journal published by the late David Griffard, vol II no 1 (1985), Barry Fell was interviewed. Alas, DG went down in a private plane after the seventh issue. Among other things:

In the middle of Australia there is a group of three or four meteorite craters called the Henley craters. They're like the Arizona meteorite crater -- not so big, but there are several of them -- and, like in Arizona, the land was scattered with pieces of iron meteorite. I think the [inaudible] dating very slow growing desert plants. They believe that the date is about 5000 years ago -- the formation of the craters. The Aboriginal name for this area is the "Place Where The Sun Walked on the Earth" -- they must have seen it!

[21twelve]

I was at a talk last night about these ancient tools and how they help describe the “people” that used them. He had examples of some early ones and they would be easy to miss if walking along the beach.

I forget the names of the groups, but at 2.7 mya it was something like homo erectus - and on average their tools had I think 4 sharp edges. Then came another one and they had 8 sharp sides. Neanderthals had 36 sharp sided tools. Homo Sapiens had 360 sharp edges! He said some Neanderthals seemed to have tried more edges, but they just couldn’t do it. Difference in how their brains were wired (same size or larger than humans, but smaller frontal cortex), and I think humans were the first ones to have a muscle and nerve that went past the last joint in the thumb - so much better dexterity. AND he figured that more complicated verbal communication was the key for human survival. He said that muscle/nerve for the thumb is tied in with the nerves and muscles for our tongues! (Ever see a young child concentrate on writing with their tongues hanging out!?)

And it is amazing that 50,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens were able to somehow be on something that floated and arrived in Australia beyond the horizon. The speaker said something about “how brave was that!” - but I would imagine it was some guys on a raft trying to float along the shoreline to avoid the saber-tooth tigers - and they were blown out to sea. And for every 100 that got blown out, one raft made it to Australia.