For decades, archaeologists assumed that seafaring was a relatively recent development in human history, tied to the rise of farming communities and more advanced technologies. However, recent discoveries are rewriting that narrative, revealing that our hunter-gatherer ancestors were capable of long-distance ocean voyages tens of thousands of years earlier than previously believed.
The Maltese Revelation
One striking example comes from Malta, a remote Mediterranean island. Excavations between 2021 and 2023 uncovered evidence of human activity dating back 8,500 years—over a millennium earlier than previously known. These weren’t farmers with sophisticated tools; they were hunter-gatherers who navigated nearly 100 kilometers of open water to reach the island. The fact that Malta is not visible from Sicily on the horizon, and a canoe voyage would take over 24 hours, underscores the remarkable navigational skills of these early seafarers.
This discovery challenges the long-held assumption that only settled agricultural populations with advanced tools were capable of crossing significant stretches of water. It forces us to reconsider how early humans explored and colonized the world.
Revising Prehistoric Assumptions
For much of the 20th century, the prevailing view was that islands were only reached by humans relatively recently. Remote Pacific islands, for example, weren’t settled until within the last 2,000 years by skilled navigators. But the evidence now suggests that seafaring was far more widespread and ancient than previously imagined.
The problem lies in preservation. Boats made of wood, hide, and other organic materials decay rapidly, leaving little archaeological trace. The oldest known boat remains are only about 10,000 years old: the Pesse canoe from the Netherlands and fragments of vessels from Kuwait and Italy. This scarcity of evidence led researchers to believe that hunter-gatherers lacked the means or motivation for long-distance ocean travel.
However, recent archaeological findings are overturning this assumption.
Early Sea Crossings: The Mediterranean and Southeast Asia
The most compelling evidence for early seafaring comes from two regions: the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia. In Greece, obsidian artifacts found in Franchthi cave date back 13,000 years, proving that humans were traveling from the mainland to islands over 100 kilometers away during the Stone Age.
But Southeast Asia provides even more dramatic evidence. Around 65,000 to 70,000 years ago, modern humans migrated from Africa into Asia. During the glacial period, lower sea levels connected parts of the region, forming landmasses like Sundaland (modern-day Borneo, Sumatra, and Java). From there, they crossed to Sahul (Australia and New Guinea), a journey that required traversing significant stretches of open water.
Archaeological sites in Australia and New Guinea confirm this: stone tools dating back at least 50,000 years demonstrate that humans had already reached these distant lands. Further exploration on islands like Sulawesi has revealed evidence of hominin presence dating back as far as 1.48 million years ago, though whether these crossings were intentional or accidental remains debated.
Beyond Homo Sapiens : The Case of Flores and Luzon
The story doesn’t end with Homo sapiens. Fossil discoveries on the islands of Flores and Luzon raise intriguing questions about other hominin species. Homo floresiensis (the “hobbits”) lived on Flores between 190,000 and 50,000 years ago, despite the island never being connected to the mainland. Similarly, Homo luzonensis fossils dating back as far as 709,000 years suggest an even earlier hominin presence on Luzon.
The possibility that these hominins reached these islands by accidental means—perhaps drifting on vegetation or rafts—cannot be ruled out. However, the repeated presence of hominins on isolated islands strongly suggests that early seafaring was more common than previously thought.
The Role of Chance and Opportunity
While purposeful boat-building may have been a later development, early hominins could have exploited natural opportunities for seafaring. Storms, floods, and the abundance of floating vegetation could have carried individuals or small groups across shorter distances. Even today, large rafts of vegetation are swept out to sea after storms.
The migration of monkeys between Africa and South America tens of millions of years ago provides an extreme example of accidental long-distance dispersal. Similarly, recent studies suggest that iguanas rafted over 8,000 kilometers from North America to Fiji around 30 million years ago. These events demonstrate that even without sophisticated watercraft, animals—and likely early hominins—could traverse significant distances by chance.
The Future of Research
The growing body of evidence challenges the traditional view that seafaring was a late development in human history. While the exact timeline and methods remain uncertain, it is now clear that our ancestors were capable of long-distance ocean voyages far earlier than previously imagined. Further archaeological investigations, coupled with advances in genetic and geological dating techniques, will continue to refine our understanding of this crucial chapter in human evolution.
These discoveries not only rewrite our understanding of early human migration but also force us to rethink the cognitive and technological capabilities of our ancestors. The story of seafaring is not just about boats; it is about the ingenuity, adaptability, and relentless curiosity that drove humans to explore and colonize the world.
