January 29 2000
Dreamtime Rainbow Serpent Possibly Real
[Original headline: Fossil find linked to Dreamtime serpent]
The rainbow serpent which features prominently in Aboriginal Dreamtime legend, may not have been a mythological creature after all. New evidence provided by the archeological remains of a species of a primitive Australian snake suggest it could be the basis for what has long been regarded as folklore. Known as the Wonambi Naracoortensis, the creature ranged in length from three to five metres and was the width of a large dinner plate. It was big enough to swallow extremely large creatures. The rainbow serpent, which appears in Aboriginal rock art going back 40,000 years, is said to command the powers of creation and destruction and plays a key role in the Aboriginal Dreamtime. The latest claims are based on fossil records from Naracoorte in South Australia which first revealed the giant snake. It is believed to have survived until 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, about the time humans first arrived in Australia. The overlap would have allowed the early ancestors of Australia's indigenous people to make a pictorial record of the snake. Dr John Scanlon of the University of New South Wales, who helped piece together the evidence, admitted the snake "might have been the basis for the . . . rainbow serpent in Aboriginal Dreaming legends". But the director of the Australian Museum, Mike Archer, suggested the relationship between the remains and the rainbow serpent was a "bit tenuous".