The
Submerged
Cradle

In Eden in the East (1998), Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer proposed that prehistoric Sundaland was an important centre of early human civilization. As rising seas submerged the region between 14,000 and 7,000 years ago, its populations migrated — potentially spreading agricultural knowledge, maritime skills, cultural traditions and flood myths to other parts of Asia and beyond.

His work supports the Sundalandia hypothesis that the submerged Sunda Shelf may hold evidence of complex prehistoric societies that influenced later civilizations — although this remains to be archaeologically proven.

In Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found (2005), Prof. Arysio Santos proposed that the Atlantis described by Plato was located in prehistoric Sundaland. After 30 years of research he compared the geographical, climatic and natural characteristics set out in Plato's Timaeus and Critias, identifying more than 30 features he argued uniquely matched Sundaland.

His theory supports the Sundalandia hypothesis that a sophisticated prehistoric civilization may lie submerged beneath Southeast Asian seas — a claim that remains contested, and awaits archaeological discovery.