Primitive Humans Conquered Sea, Surprising Finds Suggest

[Adsos Letter]

Source: National Geographic News
Heather Pringle
for National Geographic magazine
Published February 17, 2010

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Two years ago a team of U.S. and Greek archaeologists were combing a gorge on the island of Crete (map) in Greece, hoping to find tiny stone tools employed by seafaring people who had plied nearby waters some 11,000 years ago.

Instead, Boston University archaeologist and stone-tool expert Curtis Runnels came across a whopping surprise—a sturdy 5-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) hand ax.

Knapped from a cobble of local quartz stone, the rough-looking tool resembled hand axes discovered in Africa and mainland Europe and used by human ancestors until about 175,000 years ago. This stone tool technology, useful for smashing bones, cutting flesh, and scraping hides, had been relatively static for over a million years.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100217-crete-primitive-humans-mariners-seafarers-mediterranean-sea/

[aquart]

1. Oh, they're finally convinced? I'm so pleased.

Try to keep up, fellas.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Who are you saying they need to keep up with? (nt)

[Javaman]

10. Us primitive humans...

:rofl:

[roguevalley]

11. people felt acupuncture, etc. came from china late on but the man found

in the alps had acupuncture tattoos on his body. Scientists need to step it up.

[Jamastiene]

2. I like Stone Age tools and weapons.n/t

[Swamp Rat]

3. k&r

Great article.

:kick:

[FarCenter]

4. About 130 KYA, the oldest date in the article, would have been during the last inter-glacial period

Roughly as warm as now. Of course, just previously, at 150 KYA, there had been the maximum of the previous glacial period.

It's not clear whether the 12 - 24 mile straits between Crete the adjacent islands and mainland would have frozen over? Or at least partially to reduce the distance to be traveled by boat?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. No, I don't think there'd be any ice in the Mediterranean at that point

That would seem to be the Wolstonian or Saalian stage, and the maximume extent of the northern ice cap didn't even get as far south as Prague: http://www.qpg.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/nweurorivers/saalianglaciation.html

Sea level would be lower, though, so that might lessen the distance a bit. But anyway, it still implies sea travel maybe as much as 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. It's a time before modern humans has been found in the Mediterranean.

In Africa, early modern humans appeared at least as long ago as 160,000 years BP at sites such as Bouri in Ethiopia, and perhaps as long ago as 195,000 years ago, if the dating of Omo Kibish, also in Ethiopia, is correct. The earliest sites outside of Africa with early modern humans are at Skhul and Qafzeh caves in what is now Israel about 100,000 years ago. There's a large gap in the record for Asia and Europe, between 100,000 and 40,000 years ago, a period in which the Middle East seems to have been occupied by Neanderthals; but around 50,000 years ago, the EMH appear again and flow back into Europe.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/earlymansites/a/cro_magnon.htm

[FarCenter]

9. I was thinking that winters in Greece might be cold enough for seasonal ice -- Also ..

you might find the following Letter to Nature interesting on human origins --

Complete Khoisan and Bantu genomes from southern Africa

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7283/full/nature08795.html

One conclusion is that genetic differences between Koisan individuals is greater than the genetic differences between European and Asian populations. This points to a high level of genetic diversity among Africans prior to the Bantu expansion.

[Mari333]

5. I found a big ass stone ax piece in my woods

when I had woods. I looked it up on the web, there are a lot of them around. Ojibwa tribes used to be here.


love that stuff. still have the piece. not as old as this one tho lol

[UTUSN]

6. An endearing tidbit: The tough & vicious Romans were AFRAID of the sea!1

I don't remember where I saw this.


This really isn't off topic, because look how long AFTER primitives conquered the sea were the Romans aFEARED of the sea!1