The Land of Human Origin
Pondaung Primate
Pondaung is a geographical region in Myanmar
lying partly in the Sagaing and partly in Magway
Divisions. It has become well known world wide due
to the discovery of fossilized remains of anthropoid
primate some years back by both Myanmar and foreign
geologists. Teams of experts on the subject from the
United States, France and Japan have made research
trips to this area with the cooperation of the
Office of the Strategic Studies of the Ministry of
Defence and geologists of various Universities of
the Ministry of Education and discovered substantial
forsilized remains not only of the anthropoid
primate but also of some wild fauna and flora.
After laboratory tests and analysis of their
finds and scientific discussions at international
fora, a consensus has been reached that "Pondaung
anthropoid primate fossils are 40 million years
older than than their Egyptian counterparts which ,
were once censidered the oldest".
The Pondaung Primates Today, Myanmar has found
the most reliable proof of 'Human Origin'.
Scientists believe that human originated from
primates, or people simply call them monkeys. The
word 'primate' generally refers to mammals which
have both hands and legs and being the most
intelligent among all other living beings.
Therefore, to trace the human origin, scientists had
to look into the earliest evidence of anthropoid
primates. The discovery of many fossilized remains
of Pondaung primates within the past few years, made
this theory firmer, and also confirmed by French,
Japanese, and other international scientists.
The Pondaung area is situated in the northwestern
part of central Myanmar which consists two ranges
named Pondaung and Ponnyadaung of over 3000 feet
high, lying in a North-South direction. It has been
a famous fossil site for The eastern range is
Pondaung and the western range is Ponnyadaung. These
two ranges are composed of the rocks of the Pondaung
Formation. The formation is almost entirely composed
of massive quartz sandstones, brown on the weathered
surface, but of a greenish tint in fresh stream
sections. As of today, scientists found 4 different
groups of primates: Pondaungia, Amphipithecus,
Myanmarpithecus, and Bahinia. History Myanmar has a
long and complex history. Many peoples have lived in
the region and the history began. The first
identifiable civilization is that of the Mon. The
Mon probably began migrating into the area in about
300 BC, and their first kingdom Suwarnabhumi, was
founded around the port of Thaton in about 300 BC.
The Pyu arrived in Myanmar in the 7th century and
established city kingdoms at Binnaka, Mongamo, Sri
Ksetra, and Halingyi. During this period, Myanmar
was part of an overland trade route from China to
India. By 849, the Burmans had founded a powerful
kingdom centered on the city of Bagan and filled the
void left by the Pyu. The kingdom grew in relative
isolation until the reign of Anawrahta (1044 - 77)
who successfully unified all of Myanmar by defeating
the Mon city of Thaton in 1057. After the collapse
of Bagan authority, Myanmar was divided once again.
The Burmans had restablished themselves at the city
of Ava by 1364, where Bagan culture was revived and
a great age of Burmese literature ensued. The
kingdom lacked easily defendable borders, however,
and was overrun by the Shan in 1527. Surviors of the
destruction of Ava eventually established a new
kingdom centered on Taungoo in 1531 led by
Tabinshwehti (reigned 1531-50), who once again
unified most of Myanmar. A popular Burmese leader
named Alaungpaya drove the Bago forces out of
northern Myanmar by 1753, and by 1759 he had once
again conquered Bago and southern Myanmar while also
regaining control of Manipur. He established his
capital at Yangon. The Golden Land Myanmar is known
as the Golden Land by many foreign countries. Due to
rich cultural heritage from time to time, and also
because of the religious believes, the country has
many golden pagodas all over the country. Many
Myanmar kings and queens had donated gold to pagodas
they had donated. As an event, Queen Shin Saw Pu was
the first to gild the Shwe Dagon Pagoda. She went on
the scales and let them take her weight which was a
bout 40 kg.(90 lbs). She donated that weight in
gold. The pagodas are usually named with 'Shwe'
which means gold or golden in Myanmar.
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