Latest news with #EleanorScerri
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hunter-gatherers made long distance-crossings of Mediterranean in boats
Hunter-gatherers were making long-distance voyages across the Mediterranean 8,500 years ago, suggesting they were more technologically advanced than previously thought. Evidence of human activity has been found in caves in Malta, which date back to the European Mesolithic, proving that communities must have travelled from the mainland – a distance of at least 60 miles of open water. Sailing had not yet been invented, so it is likely they made the arduous journey paddling in dugout canoes and may have navigated by the stars. The remains date from a thousand years before the arrival of the first farmers. 'The fact that we find hunter-gatherers on Malta at this time implies a sea crossing from Sicily in a dugout canoe,' said Prof Nicholas Vella of the University of Malta, co-investigator of the study. 'All of this predisposes knowledge by the seafarers of navigation at night, using the stars, using sea marks and of course the ability to make up for the strong sea currents that exist in this part of the Mediterranean. 'Relying on sea surface currents and prevailing winds, a crossing of about 100km is likely, with a speed of about 4km per hour. 'Even on the longest day of the year, these seafarers would have had over several hours of darkness in open water.' Malta is one of the most remote islands in the Mediterranean, lying around 62 miles off the coast of Sicily, to which it had previously been connected by a hypothesised land bridge that was submerged around 13,000 years ago. It had been assumed that Malta was too small and remote to support human populations before the dawn of farming, which also brought the development of more advanced seafaring technologies. Previously identified remains in Malta have pointed to Neolithic farmers being the first to reach the isle around 7,400 years ago. But researchers found evidence of stone tools, hearths, and cooked food waste at the cave site of Latnija in the northern Mellieħa region of Malta. 'The results add a thousand years to Maltese prehistory and force a re-evaluation of the seafaring abilities of Europe's last hunter-gatherers, as well as their connections and ecosystem impacts,' said Prof Eleanor Scerri of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (MPI-GEA) and the University of Malta. 'It leads us to ask what other connections might have existed across the Mesolithic world and the Mediterranean.' The remains of deer, birds, tortoises, and foxes were discovered, suggesting the cave dwellers were still hunting their food, as well as eating seals, fish, urchins, and crabs. Some of the animal bones found had been thought to already be extinct, suggesting that Mesolithic hunters could have been responsible for some animals dying out on Malta. The experts said archaeologists may need to rethink the technological capabilities of hunter-gatherers in the region. The research was published in the journal Nature. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
09-04-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
Hunter-gatherers made long distance-crossings of Mediterranean in boats
Hunter-gatherers were making long-distance voyages across the Mediterranean 8,500 years ago, suggesting they were more technologically advanced than previously thought. Evidence of human activity has been found in caves in Malta, which date back to the European Mesolithic, proving that communities must have travelled from the mainland – a distance of at least 60 miles of open water. Sailing had not yet been invented, so it is likely they made the arduous journey paddling in dugout canoes and may have navigated by the stars. The remains date from a thousand years before the arrival of the first farmers. 'The fact that we find hunter-gatherers on Malta at this time implies a sea crossing from Sicily in a dugout canoe,' said Prof Nicholas Vella of the University of Malta, co-investigator of the study. 'All of this predisposes knowledge by the seafarers of navigation at night, using the stars, using sea marks and of course the ability to make up for the strong sea currents that exist in this part of the Mediterranean. 'Relying on sea surface currents and prevailing winds, a crossing of about 100km is likely, with a speed of about 4km per hour. 'Even on the longest day of the year, these seafarers would have had over several hours of darkness in open water.' Malta is one of the most remote islands in the Mediterranean, lying around 62 miles off the coast of Sicily, to which it had previously been connected by a hypothesised land bridge that was submerged around 13,000 years ago. It had been assumed that Malta was too small and remote to support human populations before the dawn of farming, which also brought the development of more advanced seafaring technologies. Previously identified remains in Malta have pointed to Neolithic farmers being the first to reach the isle around 7,400 years ago. But researchers found evidence of stone tools, hearths, and cooked food waste at the cave site of Latnija in the northern Mellieħa region of Malta. 'The results add a thousand years to Maltese prehistory and force a re-evaluation of the seafaring abilities of Europe's last hunter-gatherers, as well as their connections and ecosystem impacts,' said Prof Eleanor Scerri of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (MPI-GEA) and the University of Malta. 'It leads us to ask what other connections might have existed across the Mesolithic world and the Mediterranean.' The remains of deer, birds, tortoises, and foxes were discovered, suggesting the cave dwellers were still hunting their food, as well as eating seals, fish, urchins, and crabs. Some of the animal bones found had been thought to already be extinct, suggesting that Mesolithic hunters could have been responsible for some animals dying out on Malta. The experts said archaeologists may need to rethink the technological capabilities of hunter-gatherers in the region. The research was published in the journal Nature.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Cave discovery could rewrite 1,000 years of Mediterranean history
Evidence discovered in a cave on Malta indicates hunter-gatherers visited the picturesque Mediterranean island long before they began farming on mainland Europe. If true, the 8,500-year-old archeological site appears to contradict commonly held assumptions about societal development among the continent's last Mesolithic communities. Researchers published their findings on April 9 in Nature, and argue that as much as a millennium's worth of Maltese prehistory may warrant reevaluation. The trajectory of paleohistorical societies often goes something like this: first farming, then the open ocean. That's because, generally speaking, the tools and techniques needed to craft seafaring technology such as sails only arrived after the invention of farming tools. Because of this, most archeologists long believed Mediterranean islands like Malta were some of the last wildernesses to encounter humans. However, a cave site known as Latnija in Malta's northern Mellieħa region is forcing experts to consider alternative historical narratives. There, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Malta have uncovered evidence indicating a human presence on the island at least 8,500 years ago—roughly 1,000 years before the first known farmers arrived. More specifically, Latnija contained stone tools and hearth fragments, as well as cooked food waste. Some of this food even came from animals believed to have already died out on the island. 'We found abundant evidence for a range of wild animals, including Red Deer, long thought to have gone extinct by this point in time,' study lead author Eleanor Scerri said in a statement. 'They were hunting and cooking these deer alongside tortoises and birds, including some that were extremely large and extinct today.' In addition to land animals, the cooked food scraps also included a large array of marine resources such as seals and fish, as well as thousands of gastropods, crabs, and sea urchins. But just how far did these hunter-gatherers sail to host these Maltese cookouts? According to experts, at least 62 miles (100 km) of open water. Even more impressive, these ancient sailors likely made their journeys in simple dugout canoes without the aid of sails. '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,' said study co-author Nicholas Vella, adding that, 'Even on the longest day of the year, these seafarers would have had over several hours of darkness in open water.' The study's authors believe their findings can help kick off thoughtful reexaminations of Europe's last hunter-gatherer societies, as well as their influence on the natural world around them. It's now possible that at least some endemic animal populations on Malta and other distant Mediterranean islands went extinct partially due to humans. The discovery even raises the chances of still-unknown seafaring links between Mesolithic communities. 'The results add a thousand years to Maltese prehistory and force a re-evaluation of the seafaring abilities of Europe's last hunter-gatherers, as well as their connections and ecosystem impacts,' said Scerri.
The Hill
09-04-2025
- Science
- The Hill
Stone-age hunters crossed the Mediterranean, study finds
Long-distance seafarers crossed the Mediterranean far earlier than scientists had believed, a new study has found. Excavations at a cave on the island of Malta have uncovered stone tools, cooking site and animal skeletons from 8,500 years ago — 1,000 years before the first farmers arrived on the island, according to findings published in the journal Nature. The findings 'force a re-evaluation of the seafaring abilities of Europe's last hunter-gatherers, as well as their connections and ecosystem impacts,' said Eleanor Scerri of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Malta. 'Connections' in that case refers to the possibility that hunter-gatherer communities may have made regular trips between communities scattered across Mediterranean islands — and that they may have played a crucial role in wiping out island species previously thought to have gone extinct long before the arrival of humans. Because humans aren't native to Malta — or indeed any small island — that finding represents the oldest known long-distance seafaring in the Mediterranean. Thanks to better-known ancient travelers like the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans, that sea would become legendary for its maritime traffic. But scientists had long believed that its many islands were only accessible to relatively advanced, settled farming civilizations — an assumption that Wednesday's paper calls into question. In the cave site on northern Malta, scientists found trace remnants of the roasted carcasses of red deer, tortoises and birds, as well as the remains of the marine life that once swarmed around Malta. 'We found remains of seal, various fish, including grouper, and thousands of edible marine gastropods, crabs and sea urchins, all indisputably cooked,' coauthor James Blinkhorn of the University of Liverpool and the Max Planck Institute of Anthropology said in a statement. The crossing, likely carried out in dugout canoes without sails, would have been harrowing: a 60-mile (100 km) passage over open water at a grueling pace of about 2 miles per hour. To survive it, these pioneering hunters would have relied on their knowledge of prevailing winds and sea currents, and navigated by the stars and notable landmarks. Even so, 'these seafarers would have had over several hours of darkness in open water,' coauthor Nicholas Vella of the University of Malta said in a statement. The finding raises more questions than it answers. Scientists don't know how these hunters knew that Malta was there; how far back in time such crossings were carried out; or if similar sites lie, waiting to be discovered, on other islands across the Mediterranean.
New York Times
26-02-2025
- Science
- New York Times
Early Humans Thrived in Rainforests
For generations, scientists looked to the East African savanna as the birthplace of our species. But recently some researchers have put forward a different history: Homo sapiens evolved across the entire continent over the past several hundred thousand years. If this Africa-wide theory were true, then early humans must have figured out how to live in many environments beyond grasslands. A study published Wednesday shows that as early as 150,000 years ago, some of them lived deep in a West African rainforest. 'What we're seeing is that, from a very early stage, ecological diversification is at the heart of our species,' said Eleanor Scerri, an evolutionary archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena, Germany, and an author of the study. In the 20th century, after scientists found many fossils and stone tools in East African savannas, many researchers concluded that our species was especially adapted to life in grasslands and open woodlands, where humans could hunt great herds of mammals. Only much later, the theory went, did our species become versatile enough to survive in tougher environments. Tropical rainforests appeared to be the toughest of them all. It can be hard to find enough food in jungles, and they offer lots of places for predators to lurk. 'You can't see what to hunt,' Dr. Scerri said, 'and you can't see what's coming for you.' But in 2018, Dr. Scerri and her colleagues challenged the idea that East African grasslands were the single cradle of humanity. The abundance of stone tools and fossils found there, they argued, might have meant simply that the region had the right conditions for preserving those traces of history. The scientists pointed to other fossils and stone tools discovered from southern and northern Africa. Those artifacts had often been dismissed as the products of extinct human relatives, rather than our own species. Dr. Scerri and her colleagues suggested that for hundreds of thousands of years, our forerunners lived in isolated populations across Africa, periodically mixing their DNA when they came into contact. If that were true, then early humans should have also been present in West and Central Africa, where rainforests were common. The oldest firm evidence of humans in African rainforests dated back just 18,000 years. But the acidic soils in tropical forests could have destroyed the bones before they turned to fossils, and tools could have been washed away. Dr. Scerri came across an older report about a site in the Ivory Coast. The researchers dug a massive trench in a hillside called Anyama. In the hard, sandy sediment, they discovered bits of plant matter as well as some stone tools, though they could not determine their age. In March 2020, Dr. Scerri and her colleagues traveled to Anyama and excavated a fresh face of sediment, where they found more stone tools. But they worked for only a few days before the Covid pandemic forced them home. They returned to the site in November 2021, only to discover that it had been illegally quarried for road building. 'It was absolutely heartbreaking,' said Eslem Ben Arous, a member of the team now at the National Center for Research on Human Evolution in Burgos, Spain. Dr. Ben Arous and her colleagues discovered a small area not far from the original dig where they found more tools. But the new site has been destroyed as well. Still, the researchers managed to gather a lot of clues. Dr. Ben Arous, an expert on geochronology, used new methods to estimate the age of the sediment layers. The oldest layer in which the researchers found stone tools formed 150,000 years ago. The sediment also preserved wax from the surface of ancient leaves. Analyzing the chemistry of the leaf wax revealed that Anyama was a dense rainforest throughout its history. Even in the ice age, when the cool, dry climate shrank jungles across Africa, Anyama remained a tropical refuge. Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias, an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge who was not involved in the new study, said that the work offered clear proof that people were living in those jungles — and that they were living there very early in the history of our species. 'It's important because it confirms what other research predicted,' Dr. Padilla-Iglesias said. Khady Niang, an archaeologist at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal and an author of the study, noted that many of the oldest artifacts discovered were massive chopping tools crafted from quartz. She speculated that the Anyama people used them to dig up food or hack their way through the rainforest. 'If you move a lot, you need tools to cut the tress that hinder your path,' Dr. Niang said. The distinctive tool kit makes Dr. Scerri suspect that the Anyama people had already lived in the rainforest long before 150,000 years ago. 'They're not people who have just arrived,' she said. 'These are people who had the time to adjust to their living conditions.'
