You might be interested in the paper I linked to, which gives examples of more direct connections between modern Aboriginal myths and 7,000 year old sea level rise.
At that paper points out, one of the ways that oral traditions might last longer is if "a particular society remains comparatively isolated, not subject to the (repeated) cultural intrusion that might lead to radical alteration or replacement of Indigenous traditions".
Western mythologies are not isolated. In Snorri Sturluson's 13th century telling of the flood after Ymir's death, Bergelmir and his wife escaped by holding on to a hollowed-out tree trunk. Does that reflect pre-Christian Norse traditions, or a syncretization with Christian traditions that in turn drew on older Middle Eastern flood myths?
It's also difficult to determine if the mythology is indeed 7,000 years old, or a more recent mythology. Consider the Cantre'r Gwaelod, "an area of land which, according to legend, was located in an area west of present-day Wales which is now under the waters of Cardigan Bay" (quoting Wikipedia), with oldest records from the 1200s, and similar to the stories of Helig ap Glanawg.
The petrified forest of Ynyslas shows that 4-5,000 years ago the beach was a forest, and that people lived in it.
So, are the stories of Cantre'r Gwaelod the result of oral tradition that passed down for 4,000 years?
Or are they a more modern just-so story that attempts to explain why there are petrified trees on the beach? (Note that the tradition interprets glacial moraines as dikes.)
Or, consider the story of Giant's Causeway. Tradition is that Fionn mac Cumhaill built a path from Ireland to Scotland - both parts of the same lava flow, but with no reason to believe this is a result of an ancient oral tradition from when those land masses were connected.
> some of those themes likely imprinted on us via generations of long forgotten history and religion
] Japan lacks a major flood myth. Japanese scholars in the 19th century such as Hirata Atsutane and Motoori Norinaga used the global flood myths of other cultures to argue for the supremacy of Shinto and promote Japanese nationalism.[22] They claimed that the fact that Japan has no flood myth showed that it was both the centre and highest point on Earth, making it the closest place on Earth to the heavens. As such, this to them demonstrates the veracity of the Japanese creation myth, where Japan comes first and foremost.
Why were Japanese people not similarly imprinted?
> a near extinction event
Our ancestors then may have had no clue that the rest of humans had died out. There may have been no emotional or cultural imprint to pass on.
Consider if everyone died in the year 1600, except for those on Australia. Our history and loss would not have been reflected in their stories.
At that paper points out, one of the ways that oral traditions might last longer is if "a particular society remains comparatively isolated, not subject to the (repeated) cultural intrusion that might lead to radical alteration or replacement of Indigenous traditions".
Western mythologies are not isolated. In Snorri Sturluson's 13th century telling of the flood after Ymir's death, Bergelmir and his wife escaped by holding on to a hollowed-out tree trunk. Does that reflect pre-Christian Norse traditions, or a syncretization with Christian traditions that in turn drew on older Middle Eastern flood myths?
It's also difficult to determine if the mythology is indeed 7,000 years old, or a more recent mythology. Consider the Cantre'r Gwaelod, "an area of land which, according to legend, was located in an area west of present-day Wales which is now under the waters of Cardigan Bay" (quoting Wikipedia), with oldest records from the 1200s, and similar to the stories of Helig ap Glanawg.
The petrified forest of Ynyslas shows that 4-5,000 years ago the beach was a forest, and that people lived in it.
So, are the stories of Cantre'r Gwaelod the result of oral tradition that passed down for 4,000 years?
Or are they a more modern just-so story that attempts to explain why there are petrified trees on the beach? (Note that the tradition interprets glacial moraines as dikes.)
Or, consider the story of Giant's Causeway. Tradition is that Fionn mac Cumhaill built a path from Ireland to Scotland - both parts of the same lava flow, but with no reason to believe this is a result of an ancient oral tradition from when those land masses were connected.
> some of those themes likely imprinted on us via generations of long forgotten history and religion
On the flip side, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flood_myths#Japan points out:
] Japan lacks a major flood myth. Japanese scholars in the 19th century such as Hirata Atsutane and Motoori Norinaga used the global flood myths of other cultures to argue for the supremacy of Shinto and promote Japanese nationalism.[22] They claimed that the fact that Japan has no flood myth showed that it was both the centre and highest point on Earth, making it the closest place on Earth to the heavens. As such, this to them demonstrates the veracity of the Japanese creation myth, where Japan comes first and foremost.
Why were Japanese people not similarly imprinted?
> a near extinction event
Our ancestors then may have had no clue that the rest of humans had died out. There may have been no emotional or cultural imprint to pass on.
Consider if everyone died in the year 1600, except for those on Australia. Our history and loss would not have been reflected in their stories.