This animated map shows the rise and fall of sea levels around Sundaland over the centuries. From 04:30 it shows human migration paths.
This animated map shows the rise and fall of sea levels around Sahul, the area of what is now known as Australia and Papua New Guinea. It also shows the human migration paths from around the 4 minute mark.
A nice close up look of Gunung Padang on the island of Java.
Kiribati armor was designed to offer protection from the shark-toothed swords, spears, and daggers that rival warriors often carried. The suit was a set of overalls and sleeves which were woven from coconut fiber. On top of this, a coconut cuirass was worn. This cuirass was distinctive, in that it often came with a high backboard to protect from back attacks.
Graham Hancock, the author of books such as Magicians of the Gods has a new Netflix series out called Ancient Apocalypse. In the first episode he visits Gunung Padang in Indonesia. It is possibly a 20,000 year old megalithic site. I first discovered the idea that a civilisation existed at the end of the last ice age through Graham's books and the inspiration for this setting comes from some of his speculations.
Whether he's right or not, it certainly fuels my imagination.
To promote the show he is back on the Joe Rogan show which you can listen to on Spotify.
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.
Read the rest here:
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.
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.
