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Stone Tools Found On Crete Push Back Humans' Maritime History

The New York Times reports that stone tools discovered on the Greek island of Crete, and reported last month at an academic conference, are strong evidence for rethinking the maritime capabilities of early humans. The researchers who found the tools (hand-axes, cleavers, and scrapers) estimate them to be at least 130,000 years old; if they're right, humans have been traveling long distances at sea (Crete is 200 miles from the northern African coastline) for at least several tens of thousands of years longer than earlier believed.

16 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory ... by Webster9 · · Score: 5, Funny

    132,010 BC @ 00:12 Webster9 wrote: First Post

    1. Re:Obligatory ... by BrokenHalo · · Score: 3, Funny

      The only obligatory remark is of course re. "from the perhaps-a-swallow-brought-them-there dept.":

      Would that be an African Swallow, or a European Swallow?

    2. Re:Obligatory ... by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 4, Funny

      And God said "First Post. Oh, and someone turn on the damn lights!" And there was Light...

      --
      Not a sentence!
    3. Re:Obligatory ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Shouldn't that be First Boat?

  2. First Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In a related story, next to one of the axes they found a mast with the words "First Post".
    But the amazing part was the -1 Offtopic heading right beside the inscription.

  3. FIRST BOAT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yay, now I'm a troll too

    1. Re: FIRST BOAT by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yay, now I'm a troll too

      First boast?

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. Re:They're just rocks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    An expert will be able to tell you very quickly if you're dealing with an actual tool

    Seriously. You're just asking for a smartass remark.

  5. Bah. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Don't talk to me about humans' maritime history. It's nothing but primitive stone tools, sodomy, and the lash."

  6. Could ancient humans do the backstroke? by HouseOfMisterE · · Score: 1, Funny

    Maybe they were just very good swimmers?

  7. Re:Interesting Article But... by pitchpipe · · Score: 4, Funny

    The National Institute of Oceanography states that in studies the sea level of India's coast were about 100m lower about 14k years ago, so extrapolating (a dangerous game I know =) we could say it may be possible that at some point the voyage to Crete was either walkable, or a very short sea voyage.

    So you're saying that the oceans didn't even exist 1,529,360 years ago!? I know, snarky, but I couldn't resist. Hey, you said it was a dangerous game!

    --
    Look where all this talking got us, baby.
  8. Re:Not Necasrily? by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    Stone tools found on an island indicates that humans were capable of rudimentary sea travel in order to get to Crete from the mainland.

    They could have been carried by swallows.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  9. Re:I read a lot by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Funny

    In fact, I don't know if you know this or not, Greeks were spawned by niggers

    Really? That's absolutely fascinating. I had previously assumed that, unlike all of the other humans on the Earth whose ancestors came from Africa, the Greek civilisation had sprung full-formed from the head of Zeus. Thank you for correcting my belief.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  10. Re:Not Necasrily? by chocapix · · Score: 2, Funny

    FTA:

    Crete has been an island for more than five million years, meaning that the toolmakers must have arrived by boat.

    Stone tools found on an island indicates that humans were capable of rudimentary sea travel in order to get to Crete from the mainland.

    Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe they just built a bridge.

  11. Re:Not Necasrily? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They could have been carried by swallows.

    African or European swallows?

  12. Re:Humans are pretty damn clever... by Quothz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Crete's highest peak is visible from about 100 nm.

    It took me about thirty seconds to shake nanometers out of my head and come up with nautical miles. "Gosh," thought I, "that's even flatter than Kansas, where the highest peak can be seen from several microns' distance."