Discussions on the history and historiography of Australia's New England

Sunday, June 17, 2007

New England Timelines - the Aboriginal Period

I am developing this page to provide indicative dates for developments during that long sweep of New England life from the arrival of the first human beings until the arrival of the Europeans.

The page is very much a work in progress and it will take me a long time to flesh it out in any meaningful way.

c123,000 BCE. The sea level was around 25 feet higher than it is now, so much of what is now New England's humid coastal zone was under water.

c98,000 BCE. At the start of the fourth ice age, the sea level began to fall. This moved the shore line out about six to ten miles, creating a large coastal plain stretching along the current New England coastline.

c18,000 BCE. Around 20,000 years ago, the sea level began to rise again, progressively submerging the coastal plain.

c3,000 to 4,000 BCE. The rise in sea levels slows, then stops. Progressive siltation then creates the coastal zone with its various river deltas as we know it today.

Back to Timelines entry page.

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