Ancient Egyptians and others in Australia

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

My memory of an old thread regarding ancient Chinese/Egyptian/Phoenician visitors to Australia was jolted recently - cant remember what by, but anyway, I managed to find it http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...light=egyptian

Now a quick google only shows up some "alternative" science sites discussing this topic, which doesnt inspire any confidence in it at all - does anyone (especially Carl (renormalised)) have a link to any more accepted or credible sources on this topic either way?

[allan gould]

I remember seeing an SBS program about Chinese sea going vessels and their traverse down to the Indonesian archipelago and the possibility was raised about Australia. But that's about all.

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

Originally Posted by JethroB76

My memory of an old thread regarding ancient Chinese/Egyptian/Phoenician visitors to Australia was jolted recently ....

NO evidence and not likely from Egypt as there was NO organisations outside of the succession of kings structure.

[Varangian (John)]

No evidence for Phoenician or Egyptian contact. Aboriginal people traded trepang (sea slug) with the Maccassans(sp?) for many hundreds of years across the top end. The Maccassans regularly made landfall on Australia to cook the slug. Relations between Aboriginal people and the Maccassans were thought to be good. There is no evidence to suggest that the Mongols or Chinese arrived here during their dynasties, more feasible than the Egyptians or Phoenicians being here though. There is another thread discussing this, perhaps they could be merged. Clear skies.

[BPO]

There used to be some fascinating and solid research being done on the subject in NZ until a few fringe types with books to sell began making a mockery of the field.

Between them and the deadly dangerous cultural, ethnic and political minefield, almost nobody respectable now goes near the subject of early NZ visitation or colonisation.

Bit of a shame really, because it's all very interesting, and it is always nice to have the facts, even those that make some people uncomfortable.

[Varangian (John)]

Yes agreed, but getting the facts using archaeological data is the hard part. The archaeological footprint of these people(s) in Aus/NZ would be very faint indeed. We are hard at in in Aus trying to find good, datable subsurface archaeological deposits that contain Aboriginal cultural heritage sites, let alone trying to find evidence of another civilisation here. I would support research on this topic, but I think that the archaeological signature of these visiting people would be that faint that I think the grant money could be used to answer other big questions in Australian archaeology. I would prefer to see more research undertaken to assess when exactly Australia was first colonised, we need good data to address this issue.

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by Varangian

No evidence for Phoenician or Egyptian contact. Aboriginal people traded trepang (sea slug) with the Maccassans(sp?) for many hundreds of years across the top end. The Maccassans regularly made landfall on Australia to cook the slug. Relations between Aboriginal people and the Maccassans were thought to be good. There is no evidence to suggest that the Mongols or Chinese arrived here during their dynasties, more feasible than the Egyptians or Phoenicians being here though. There is another thread discussing this, perhaps they could be merged. Clear skies.

Thanks for your thoughts on this topic - the other thread is an old one that has been revived as a result of my question here I had hoped someone at least vaguely involved in the field might respond.
There certainly are some "interesting" stories out there in google land - namely the supposed Phoenician harbour at Freshwater Point and also the Kariong glyphs. Happy googling people