Article: Mariners at the Dawn of History
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“For many decades, conventional wisdom held that the ability to construct complex sea-going vessels did not develop until the last legs of prehistory, in the lead-up to agriculture and more complex societies. Hunter-gatherers were thought to be “reluctant seafarers” if they went at all, and if travel overwater did occur, it was mostly likely by hapless castaways, set adrift by misfortune. There were always archaeological finds from certain locations inaccessible save by long sea voyages—yet the paradigm was believed anyway, buoyed by convention and an element of prejudice against ancient peoples assumed to be little more than savages. This paradigm, however, is now crumbling, worn away by the waves of new discoveries and experimentation.”
My new article for the American magazine Palladium on the deep history of seafaring, which recent discoveries is increasingly pushing back far into the murky depths of the Pleistocene, forcing us to reconceptualize both ancient Man and the first dispersals of our species.