Huw Groucutt
Discovery rewrite our prehistory timeline. After all, 1000 years before we thought, there were already trips to Malta.
Mesolithic humans crossed 100 km from sea to reach Malta 1000 years before the scientific community believed. Thus show new events with 8,500 years, discovered in the Latnija caves in Malta.
This discovery represents the oldest known example of a true long -distance maritime navigation in the Mediterranean, explains, and shows that humans crossed the Mediterranean Sea reaching Malta 100 years earlier than believed.
Researchers have found, therefore, that the hunters-recollectors crossed at least 100 kilometers of open sea To reach the Mediterranean island of Malta for 8,500 years.
“Based on superficial sea currents and dominant winds, as well as the use of reference points, stars and other orientation practices, it is possible to cross about 100 km, at a speed of about 4 km per hour. Even the longest day of the year, these sailors would have had Several hours of darkness in open waters“Explains Professor Nicholas Vella.
Human traces were found on the island in tools and even food waste left by prehistoric.
In addition, “abundant evidence of a series of wild animals, including red deer, which has long been extinguished at this point, has been found,” explains scientist Eleanor Scerri. Our ancestors “hunted and cooked these deer together with turtles and birds, including some extremely large and extinct today. ”
And these humans already seemed to be experts in marine exploration. “We found remains of seals, various fish, Including grouper, and thousands of edible marine gastropods, crabs and sea urchins, all arguably cooked, ”reports the authors of the newly published on Nature.
Another scientist, James Blinkhorn, says that these “Results add a thousand years to prehistory Maltesa And they require a reassessment of the maritime abilities of the last hunters-recollectors of Europe, as well as their connections and impacts on ecosystems. ”
