In fairness, all
it requires is a dugout canoe and a summer day and good skills. That dugout was available naturally with the
advent of scraping stones as much as two million years ago. We even have living practice to perfect our
knowledge.
Actual tool
making and tool work as we understand it coincides with the implied time frames
here. Thus it is creditable that the
expansion of modern humanity easily crossed most summer seas where wind and
current made it practical. I would go
further and suggest that they did it often to visit and raid.
The truly hard
expeditions were in the South Seas and in the end, even those were breached
with similar technology.
Stone
Age tools found in Crete prove man sailed the sea at least 130,000 years ago
UPDATED: 18:25 GMT, 4 January 2011
Discovery: Archaeologists in Crete have found tools they believe
prove man sailed the sea tens of thousands of years earlier than previously
thought
Archaeologists have discovered a set of tools
they believe prove that man sailed the sea tens of thousands of years earlier
than previously thought.
Rough axes and other tools thought to be between
130,000 and 700,000 years old were found close to shelters on the south coast
of the Mediterranean island of Crete.
Crete has been separated from the mainland of
Greece for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must have
travelled there by sea, a distance of at least 40 miles.
The previous earliest evidence was of sea travel
was 60,000 years ago; in Greece it was 11,000 years ago.
The findings upset the current view that human
ancestors migrated to Europe from Africa by land alone.
The Greek Culture Ministry said in a statement
yesterday: 'The results of the survey not only provide evidence of sea voyages
in the Mediterranean tens of thousands of years earlier than we were aware of
so far, but also change our understanding of early hominids' cognitive
abilities.'
The previous earliest evidence of open-sea
travel in Greece dates back 11,000 years.
The tools were found during a survey of caves
and rock shelters near the village of Plakias by archaeologists from the
American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Culture Ministry.
Rough axes and other tools thought to be between
130,000 and 700,000 years old were found close to shelters near the village of
Plakias on the south coast of the Mediterranean island
Significant: The previous earliest evidence of
sea travel was 60,000 years ago, so the findings upset the current view that
human ancestors migrated to Europe from Africa by land alone
MAN'S
BEST INVENTIONS
Now that it appears man
invented the boat long before 60,000 BC, here is a list of some other
breakthrough inventions:
·
The Wheel - 5,000 BC
·
Musical Instruments - 50,000 BC
·
Spears - 400,000 BC
·
Housing - 500,000 BC
·
Clothing - 500,000 to 100,000 BC
·
How to control fire - 1,000,000 BC
·
Knife - 1,400,000 to 2,500,000 BC
Such rough stone implements are associated with
Heidelberg Man and Homo Erectus, extinct
precursors of the modern human race, which
evolved from Africa about 200,000 years ago.
Maria Vlazaki, senior ministry archaeologist,
said: 'Up to now we had no proof of Early Stone Age presence on Crete.'
She said it was unclear where the hominids had
sailed from, or whether the settlements were permanent.
'They may have come from Africa or from the
east,' she said. 'Future study should help.'
The team of archaeologists has applied for
permission to conduct a more thorough excavation of the area, which Greek
authorities are expected to approve later this year.
Island: Crete has been separated from the
mainland of Greece for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must
have travelled there by sea, a distance of at least 40 miles
1 comment:
Gavin Menzies has already made the point.
Post a Comment