Real History: New dates suggest Oceania's megafauna lived until 25,000 years ago, implying coexistence with people for 40,000 years

For most of Australia's human past sea levels were lower than they are today. Australia's mainland was connected to Papua New Guinea and Tasmania as part of a larger landmass called "Sahul". 

During the Ice Ages Sahul was home to a unique range of megafauna, which included giant marsupials, birds and reptiles. The extinction of megafauna in Sahul remains one of the most contested debates in Australian science.

Now, our new paper published in Archaeology in Oceania provides compelling evidence megafauna may have coexisted with people in the region longer than previously thought—and as recently as about 25,000 years ago. 

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New dates suggest Oceania's megafauna lived until 25,000 years ago, implying coexistence with people for 40,000 years

Real History: Strange Animals From The Ancient Past

Nothing says Sword & Sorcery like strange looking animals from bygone eras. While we might be used to seeing dinosaurs that managed to survive to meet humans how about carnivorous horses, giant Amphibians and predatory flightless birds.

Check out these YouTube channels which provide loads of inspiration for Sword & Sorcery type beasts and monsters.

I learned from from one of these videos that there is evidence that humans in South and Central America hunted the Wikipedia: Gomphothere up to 11, 000 years ago.

And here's a clip from 10,000 BC. A cheesy movie but I do take some inspiration from it.

Real History: Virtual Angkor

I take a lot of inspiration from civilisations that seem to have developed 'low density tropical urbanism' like the Mayan and the Khmer civilisations.

The Virtual Angkor project is an educational site that was created to give people an idea of what 13th Century Angkor might have been like. This video gives you a little preview.