Aboriginal Myth Of Kinrara’s Eruption 7,000 Years Ago Confirmed True By Modern Science

AncientPages.com - Over the years, Aboriginal people have managed to preserve many memories of dramatic natural events that took place in the distant past, and once again an ancient myth has been confirmed true by modern science.

Kinrara volcano in Queensland erupted 7,000 years ago and stories passed down by the Gugu Badhun Aboriginal people suggest they were there to see it happen.

A research team from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), the University of Glasgow, the University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, and James Cook University has used sophisticated rock dating technique to determine when the eruption occurred.

Aboriginal People Remember Kinara's Eruption 7,000 Years Ago

By examining ancient rocks and listening to Aboriginal stories, scientists discovered ancient people remember what happened 7,000 years ago.

According to the researchers there is a potential link between the volcanic eruption and stories from Aboriginal verbal traditions, which would have been passed down for around 230 generations – further back in time than even the oldest written historical records of Egypt or Mesopotamia.

“When people think of Australia, volcanoes are probably not the first thing that springs to mind, but they are actually more common than many people realize. For example, there are nearly 400 volcanic vents in north Queensland, which erupted over the last few million years, and Kinrara is one of the most recent,”  Dr Benjamin Cohen, of the University of Glasgow and SUERC said.

Information about the volcano’s age was retrieved with a technique known as argon-argon geochronology which is baes on on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium (K) into argon (Ar).

Using a noble gas mass spectrometer, they could measure the amount of argon built-up from natural radioactive decay of potassium, allowing them to determine how much time has passed since the volcano erupted.

The team’s measurements allowed them to date the Kinrara eruption to around 7000 years ago, with the possibility that it may have been up to 2000 years further back or forward in time.

“The argon-argon technique we use has improved considerably in the last few years, allowing us to view the past through a sharper lens than ever before. Without those improvements, we would not have been able to determine the age of the Kinrara volcano.”

See also:

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Aboriginal Legends Tell Millennia-Old Stories Of Events In The Sky

While investigating local histories from the Gugu Badhun people, researcher found a recording, made in the 1970s, of an Aboriginal elder discussing an event that sounds very much like a volcanic eruption. The elder described a time when a pit was made in the ground with lots of dust in the air, and that people got lost in the dust and died. He also described an occurrence when the earth was on fire along the watercourses.

“These stories are plausible descriptions of a volcanic eruption – the Kinrara volcano has a very prominent crater, which produced volcanic ash and lava fountains. The lavas from the volcano flowed 55 kilometres down the surrounding stream and river valleys, and would have looked very much like the earth burning. The volcanic eruption of Kinrara adds to a growing list of geological events that appear to be recounted in Australian Aboriginal traditions, including sea level rise around 10,000 years ago and other volcanic eruptions elsewhere on the continent.

Studying the Kinrara eruption has been a fascinating step on the road to better understanding the most recent volcanic activity in Australia, and also the history and traditions of Aboriginal peoples. We look forward to continuing our work on volcanoes in Australia,” Dr. Cohen said.

Many Aboriginal Stories Have Been Confirmed by Modern Science

A while back, scientists studied Aboriginal stories from 21 places around Australia’s coastline, each describing a time when sea levels were significantly lower than today.

“These stories talk about a time when the sea started to come in and cover the land, and the changes this brought about to the way people lived — the changes in landscape, the ecosystem and the disruption this caused to their society.

It’s important to note that it’s not just one story that describes this process. There are many stories, all consistent in their narrative, across 21 diverse sites around Australia’s coastline,” University of the Sunshine Coast Professor of Geography Patrick Nunn said.

The research team concluded that Aboriginal 'memories' of Australia's coastline go back more than 7,000 years.

There are also several Aboriginal legends that tell millennia-old stories of events in the sky.  Dr. Duane Hamacher from the UNSW Indigenous Astronomy Group has uncovered evidence linking Aboriginal stories about meteor events with impact craters dating back some 4,700 years.

Not long ago, researchers discovered huge dinosaur tracks that confirm Aboriginal creation story of Marala’s journey. Marala was a Dreamtime creator being, known as the Emu man.

Taking into considerations, Aboriginal people have a very rich oral tradition, it is by no means far-fetched to assume, they also kept the memory of Kinrara’s eruption alive.

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