Neanderthals were sailing the Mediterranean 100,000 years ago

[n2doc]

Humans likely first took to the seas about 50,000 years ago. But there's mounting evidence that our Neanderthal cousins were routinely sailing throughout the Mediterranean twice as long ago. Alternatively, they were just really good at long distance swimming.

We can't know what sorts of boats Neanderthals might have used. Presumably, they were made out of wood, which is exactly the problem — there's just no way wood is going to last 100,000 years, without rotting in even a tiny fraction of that time. But we can identify ancient Neanderthal presence through the distinctive Mousterian stone tools that they left behind, which have been found on the coastal Greek islands of Kefallinia and Zakynthos. Neanderthals must have crossed the water for their tools to end up there.

The only potential objection to this was the possibility that shifting sea levels might have once connected these islands to the mainland via a land bridge. But it looks like we can rule that possibility out, according to George Ferentinos of Greece's University of Patras. As New Scientist reports, Ferentinos has found that the sea levels in the Mediterranean were significantly lower 100,000 years ago, they were still about 180 meters higher than the bed of the Ionian Sea off the Greek coast, meaning no land bridge would have been possible.

It wouldn't have taken the Neanderthals too much effort to reach these islands — they're only about three to eight miles away, depending on the particular configuration of the coast. Ferentinos and his fellow researchers estimate that Neanderthals began seafaring sometime between 110,000 and 35,000 years ago. We should have a better idea of the exact date range once the stone tools on the islands have been more accurately dated.

more

http://io9.com/5889484/neanderthals-were-sailing-the-mediterranean-100000-years-ago

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. It makes me sad to know that 6.000 year old Republicans

where sailing the ocean blue 50,000 years ago.

[limpyhobbler]

2. LOL

[Kurmudgeon]

7. Where did you start counting from?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

10. Tucson?

[Kurmudgeon]

14. That's what you get for counting Republicans.

[limpyhobbler]

3. fascinating...

I hadn't heard of Neanderthals sailing before.

Now let me critique the idea a little bit.

1) They probably should call it something else besides "sailing". I would say "boating" or "rafting" would be better terms. Or maybe since the distance was so much less in those days, maybe they just floated over on a log.

A similar question exists as to how the New World Monkeys made it from Africa to South America 40 million years ago. The top theory is that they migrated over on a rafts of wood or other vegetation. I haven't heard anybody suggest they used sailboats. Similarly, Neanderthals wouldn't have needed boating technology to make it to Crete. They may or may not have used boats, but just their presence on Crete does not require that they had boating technology.

2) It seems like they are making a big leap, from finding some archaeological evidence of rafting to a few islands, to "routinely sailing throughout the Mediterranean". That's a pretty big difference in meaning.

3) Instead of the Neanderthals yachting over to the isles, is it possible there was a three-mile land bridge (or even a partial land bridge) that has since eroded away? I don't know whether there is any evidence for it, but if it eroded away, there might not be. I'm just saying the idea deserves a mention in the conversation.

Very interesting article. Thanks for posting it.

[kurt_cagle]

4. Neanderthal Yachtsmen

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Neanderthals had reasonably sophisticated canoes. They had mastered flint knapping and there's some evidence that they may have also mastered thread and rope making. It's also likely that the Neanderthals, just like H. Sapiens, probably has a diet that was heavy in fish (most HSN sites are, or were at the time, coastal). Given that, it's likely that rafts, canoes, catamarans and coracles could all have been invented at some time or another. Boats are advantageous because they combine platforms with transportation, and its likely that the first time a Neanderthal hunter crossed a stream by walking trees knocked loose in a storm into a river, the idea of rafts would have been born. After that, everything is refinement.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. The Great Earthquake of 1953 Zakynthos

Only three buildings on Zakynthos were left standing after the disaster: Kefallinia was also destroyed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakynthos

I suggest that there were many more great earthquakes that changed the seabed and topography 100,000 ago.
I'm not buying the story but it is worth discussing.

[bluedigger]

6. A little bit sensationalized.

Somebody must need funding.

I can accept the dispersion of Neanderthals into the islands, but the means and timing are purely speculative pending further evidence.

Maybe Rocs grabbed them and carried them out there - it happened to Sinbad.

[tclambert]

8. They were supposed to just go on a three hour tour.

[HopeHoops]

11. The professor built the tools.

[DallasNE]

9. When I Read The Headline

I thought you had to be talking about Republicans in the House of Representatives since they have so much in common with what we know about Neanderthrals. My bad.

All kidding aside, I enjoy these types of articles so keep it up.

[bhikkhu]

12. The interesting thing is that this contradicts an idea of neanderthal culture -

in that, while our ancestors were supposed to have been adventurous and gregarious travelers, and quite open-minded in diet, the neanderthals are typically portrayed as homebodies, who seldom ventured far from hearth and home, and who stuck to diets that were less and less supported by the changing climate of Europe.

Of course, this could be the result of studies of remains from their declining days, when they may have lived in fear and isolation in an increasingly dangerous and unfriendly "us" infested Europe.

[Shankapotomus]

13. We actually have concrete evidence

that Neanderthals did sail but they had help.

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