An international team of geologists, using the latest method, re-dated the ancient basalt layers in Australia and found that the grandiose volcanic eruption described in the oral traditions of the indigenous people about 36 thousand years ago, as a result of which the world was created, is largely true.
The study is published in the journal Geology, and a summary report is available on the Geological Society of America website. According to the latest research, man appeared on the territory of modern Australia for about 65 thousand years. However, archaeologists practically did not find there ceramic artifacts and remains of structures more than 10 thousand years old.
At the same time, there are oral traditions of indigenous peoples, described in which the events are rooted in antiquity. One of them is the legend of the Gunditmara people. She describes the creation of the world - as we see it now. Moreover, the legend describes events that allegedly occurred 36 thousand years ago.
According to the beliefs of the aborigines, a creator god named Buj-Bim created the world around him from the streams of his blood and teeth escaping from his mouth. In the colorful ancient description, scientists suspected a volcanic eruption.
Radiocarbon dating in previous years has shown that there are more than 400 craters in southeastern Australia, potential epicenters for ancient eruptions over the past 100,000 years. The age of six of them varies from 37 to 50 thousand years.
In the new study, geologists relied on archaeological knowledge, including oral traditions of Australian aborigines. For the re-dating of the basaltic layers, they first applied a technological innovation - the so-called argon-argon method, based on an assessment of the process of natural radioactive decay of the potassium isotope in minerals.
This method is increasingly being used in the study of volcanoes, since it allows them to determine their age with great accuracy. In this case, geologists went to the volcano, which now bears the name of the creator god - Budj-Bim. Previously, it was called Mount Eccles. This volcanic complex is located in Western Victoria.
Measurements showed that the eruption of Buj-Bima occurred 36,900 years ago, plus or minus 3100 years. This age is consistent with the oral traditions of the aborigines. In favor of the fact that their legend is true, an archaeological find made at the foot of the volcano also speaks - a stone ax frozen in petrified volcanic ash.
By the way, the discovery of geologists officially makes the legend of the Gunditmara people one of the most ancient and long-lived oral traditions in the world.