Mediterranean Hunter Gatherers Navigated Long-Distance Sea Journeys Well Before the First Farmers.
© Daniel Clarke/ MPI GEAHunter-gatherers were crossing at least 100 km of open water to reach the Mediterranean island of Malta 8,500 years ago, a thousand years before the arrival of the first farmers.
Small, remote islands were long thought to have been the last frontiers of pristine natural systems. Humans are not thought to have been able to reach or inhabit these environments prior to the dawn of agriculture, and the technological shift that accompanied this transition.
In a paper published in
Nature this week, new evidence shows that hunter-gatherers were crossing at least 100 kilometers (km) of open water to
reach the Mediterranean island of Malta 8,500 years ago, a thousand years before the arrival of the first farmers. This report documents the oldest true long-distance seafaring in the Mediterranean, before the invention of boats with sails - an astonishing feat for hunter-gatherers likely using simple dugout canoes.
"Relying on sea surface currents and prevailing winds, as well as the use of landmarks, stars, and other wayfinding practices, a crossing of about 100 km is likely, with a speed of about 4 km per hour. Even on the longest day of the year, these seafarers would have had over several hours of darkness in open water," explains Professor Nicholas Vella of the University of Malta, co-investigator of the study.
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