Early sailors ruled the oceans with complex boats 40,000 years ago, suggesting a study

The ancestors of Polynesians They settled the remote islands of the Pacific between 1100 and 900 BC. And they have long been considered the most sailors in the world. However, new research shows that people in Southeast Asia have mastered the deep seas tens of thousands of years earlier.

Richar Fuentes and Alfred Paulik, researchers from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of Atheneo de Manila University, suggest that prehistoric southeastern Asians have built complex boats to fish and travel through deep ocean waters as early as 40,000 years ago. Their work is detailed in a exploration Published on February 8 at Archeological scienceS

“While the presence of fossils and artifacts provides sufficient evidence that early modern humans were able to cross the high seas, the circumstances themselves why and how they moved to and through Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and more in the Valassi region remain to remain remain to remain left to stay in and through Southeast Asia), and by -specially in the Vallasian region, they are left to be addressed, “Fuentes and Paulik wrote in the study.

However, the problem with the study of prehistoric boat technology is that they were most likely made of natural materials that disintegrate over time, not leaving direct archaeological evidence behind them. Therefore, researchers can only derive their existence only by analyzing indirect evidence such as tools and processing potential materials to build a boat.

As such, in this document we examine the connection between the traces of plants and the construction of boats in the coastal sites during the Pleistocene to conclude how prehistoric people migrated to and through the region, “explained Fuentes and Paulik. This included the study of stone instruments of 40,000 years from archaeological sites throughout Southeast Asia, on which they identified traces of plants processing – more special treatment required to extract rope fibers and nets.

In other words, the types of materials you will need for serious fishing and boat. In addition, the sites in Mindoro and Timor-Leste revealed fishing instruments, including hooks, gorges and net weights, as well as fish remains belonging to tuna and sharks: creatures who live in deep waters and could not be caught from the shore.

“The remains of large predatory pelagic fish in these sites show the ability for advanced marine threats and knowledge of seasonality and migration pathways of these species of fish,” says the duet. In addition, the identification of fishing tools “shows the need for a strong and well -crafted roping cord and fishing lines to catch the sea fauna.”

This set of findings indicates advanced maritime activities tens of thousands of years before The Polynesians arrived at the remote Easter islandS He also suggests that “prehistoric migrations through ISEA were not taken by simply passive sea drifters of unclear bamboo rafts, but by highly qualified navigators equipped with knowledge and technology to travel huge distances and for distant islands over deep waters,” according to a statement from the University of Aeneo de Manila.

Looking forward, the researchers are united with naval architects at the University of Sebu to try to reconstruct these ships with the same materials available for the Stone Age in Southeastern Asians.

It is worth repeating that the evidence that Fuentes and Paulik bases are indirect and require significant assumptions. Nevertheless, their work gives an idea of ​​the lasting mystery of how prehistoric peoples collide with the deep seas in order to establish the islands in Southeast Asia long before the most famous examples.