Could Atlantis Lost That Is Indonesia?

Colleagues who like to read or study books about modern human migration based on molecular genetic analysis (DNA), would never read a Stephen Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer is one of main characters in this field, which is productive to write the results of his research. Today, Oppenheimer, which was originally a pediatrician and had served in Africa, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea; is a research associate at the Institute of Human Sciences, Oxford University.


One of the famous book "Out of Eden: the Peopling of the World" (2004). This is a comprehensive book about the history of all the residential land on the Earth by modern humans based on DNA analysis on all nations.

Oppenheimer had indeed been involved in a massive project for mapping the human genome worldwide. From there he got the data to compile the book. Through this book, we can easily guess that Oppenheimer was a defender of human migration thinking: Out of Africa, and attacked the Multiregional.

But we will not discuss the book, we will discuss about another book, which sparked the debate.

In 1998, Oppenheimer published a book that shook the scientific community archaeological and paleoanthropologist, "Eden in the East: The Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia."

This book is important for us because Oppenheimer's controversial thesis is based on the geological Sundaland. In short, this book is a thesis that Sundaland is the Garden of Eden (Garden of Eden), a cultured area, but then sank, and its inhabitants fled to everywhere: Eurasia, Madagascar, and Oceania and lowering the new races. From Oppenheimer's book is never appeared signaled that Sundaland is the Lost Atlantis - the lost continent berkebudayaan forward.

Oppenheimer's thesis (1998) clearly overturning the concept so far that those inhabitants of Sundaland Indonesia comes from the mainland of Asia, rather than vice versa. Did Oppenheimer true? Research and debate on Oppenheimer's thesis has been running 10 years. Here we will discuss several recent debates. Previously, a bit of a summary of Oppenheimer's thesis (1998) that.

In "Eden in the East: The Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia", Oppenheimer hypothesize that the nations of Eurasia have ancestors from Sundaland. This hypothesis is based on research he wakes up on geology, archeology, genetics, linguistk, and folklore or mythology.

Based on geological, Oppenheimer noted that sea level rise has occurred with menyurutnya last Ice Age. 500 feet of sea level rise during the period 14000-7000 years ago and has been drowned Sundaland.

Archaeology proves that Sundaland has a high culture before flooding occurs. This sea-level rise has caused the inhabitants of Sundaland spread to humans everywhere seek higher areas. Tempers huge wave of migration towards Eurasia.

Oppenheimer track this migration path based on genetics, linguistics, and folklore. Until now people have Eurasian myths about the Great Flood, according to Oppenheimer, which is derived from his ancestors. Hypothesis Oppenheimer (1998), which we call "Out of Sundaland" have broad implications.

Some even mentioned that the Garden of Eden (Eden) was not in the Middle East, but rather in Sundaland. Adam and Eve is not a race in Mesopotamia, but the race Sunda!. Well ... broad implications not it?


Hypothesis Oppenheimer (1998) either immediately sparked debate among geneticists, linguistics, and mythology. We will summarize some of the debate the pros and cons of the latest (2007-2008). In a recent book-bukunyanya (Out of Eden, 2004; and the Origins of the British, 2007), Oppenheimer did not mention even once that his thesis Sundaland.

Latest rebuttal came from the fields of mythology in an International Conference of the Association for Comparative Mythology held in Edinburgh, 28 to 30 August 2007.

In that meeting, Wim van Binsbergen, an expert on mythology from the Netherlands, submitted a paper entitled:

"A new Paradise myth? An assessment of Stephen Oppenheimer's thesis of the South East Asian Origin of West Asian Core Myths, Including Most of the Mythological Contents of Genesis 1-11. "

This paper was submitted objections on Oppenheimer's thesis that people are the ancestors of Sundaland people of West Asia. Binsbergen (2007) analyzed the argument based on the complementary Archaeological, linguistic, genetic, ethnographic, and comparative mythological Perspectives.

According Binsbergen (2007), Oppenheimer mainly basing his scenario based on the mythology of Sundaland. Centre of West Asian mythology (Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, the Fall into sin, Cain and Abel, the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel) hypothesized Oppenheimer as a prototype mythology Southeast Asia / Oceania, particularly Sundaland.

Although Oppenheimer had received positive responses from experts who have specialized archaeological Southeast Asia, Oppenheimer had no solid evidence or research to the archaeological detail of the trans-continental Sundaland into Eurasia.

Binsbergen (2007) challenged the arguments details Oppenheimer hypothesis using comparative mythology. Here are some objection to the hypothesis:

(1) objection to the methodology (how the myth of the Sundaland / Oceania who was only 19th century AD can be a mythical ancestors in West Asia 3000 years old and BC?)

(2) theoretical difficulties will occur comparing with certain myths that separate thousands of years old and a cross-continental distances, also the actual content of different details

(3) monosentrik view (eg from Sundaland) alone is not in accordance with the history of human culture that are anatomically modern (younger than Paleolitikum top)

(4) Oppenheimer did not include elements of the natural catastrophe that can change the path of human migration

(5) The myth that the Great Flood covered the whole world must be interpreted in the view of the world at that time, not a worldview as it is now.


In a meeting earlier comparative mythology (Kyoto, 2005, Beijing 2006), Binsbergen propose a broader view, and coherent long history of Old World mythology who suffered a complex and multisentrik transmission, not rigid like a hypothesis monosentrik Oppenheimer (1998). Winsbergen also supports his thesis was based on molecular genetics using mitochondrial DNA type B.

That's the latest rebuttal of the thesis Oppenheimer (1998). Latest support for the hypothesis Oppenheimer (1998), recently arrived from a group of researchers who are partly arkeogenetika Oppenheimer's colleague.

A group of researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Leeds is pleased to announce the results peneltiannya in the journal "Molecular Biology and Evolution" in March and May 2008 editions of the paper titled:

"Climate Change and Postglacial Human Dispersals in Southeast Asia"
(Soares et al., 2008)

and

"New DNA Evidence overturns Population Migration Theory in Island Southeast Asia" (Richards et al., 2008).


Richards et al. (2008) based on DNA studies challenge the conventional theory is that the current population of Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia) came from the 4000 Taiwan (Neolithikum) years ago. The research team showed exactly the opposite happened and earlier, that the population of Taiwan originated from people who migrate because of Sundaland Great Flood in Sundaland.

Solving the lines of mitochondrial DNA (which is inherited by women) have evolved long enough in Southeast Asia since modern humans first came to this area about 50,000 years ago.

Characteristic DNA lines indicate the spread of populations at the same time that sea level rise in this region and also show migrations into Taiwan, east to New Guinea and the Pacific, and west to the mainland of Southeast Asia - in 10 000 years.

Soares et al meantime. (2008) show that haplogroup E, an important component of the diversity of mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA), evolved during the last 35 000 years, and dramatically, suddenly spread throughout the islands of Southeast Asia in the period around the early Holocene, at the same time Sundaland sinking into the seas of Java, Malacca, and beyond.


Then this component reaches Taiwan and Oceania more recently, around 8000 years ago. This proves that global warming and sea-level rises at the end of the Ice Age 15000-7000 years ago, as the prime mover of human diversity in this region.

Oppenheimer in his book "Eden in the East" (1998) it was hypothesized that there are three periods after the Ice Age floods that forced the inhabitants of Sundaland to flee by boat or walk into areas that do not flood.

By examining the mitochondrial DNA from people in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, we now have solid evidence that supports the theory of flooding. It's also probably why Southeast Asia has the richest myths about the Great Flood compared to other nations.

Well, that, quite fun to follow the debate is brewing on geology, genetics, molecular biology, linguistics, and mythology of this. Which side would be supported or refuted? Instead, go in more detail to the problem so that we are strong arguments, so assessing the debate.

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