the maritime dispersal of pleistocene humans

28
& L/$IIP1J,Wrt, VoL 3, lJsue Number 10, 2002 HUMANS MARITIME DISPERSAL OF by Robert G. Bednarik President, International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO) Director, Institute of Replicative Arcbaeology (INRA) Summary Tbe global evidence presently available for Pleistocene maritime navigation is comprebensively reviewed, and considered within tbe context of tbe relevant tecbnologies. It reveals a pattern of widespread island colonisation during tbc Late Pleistocene, and of mucb earlier .u><.t ........ ,,'" abilities in two world regions, soutb-eastern Asia and tbc Mediterranean. Sea barriers bave acted as technologicaJ filters for bominids, in tbe sense that their crossing was only possible at specific technological thresbolds. Tbis principle is similar to the filtering effects of the same barriers on animal species, wbich relate to tbe distance a breeding population was able to cross by one means or another. To bettel' und erstand tbe technologicai magnitude of these many maritime accomplisbments, expeditions are currently engaged in aseries of replicative experiments. The theoretical conditions of these experiments are examined. The paper concludes with tbe proposition that bominid cognitive and cultural evolution during tbe Middle and early Late Pleistocene has been severely misjudged. Tbe navigationai feats of Pleistocene seafarers confirm the cultural evidence of sopbistication already available in palaeoart study. in the human genes für assisted locomotion to transfer such capabilities genetically, they can ONE OF THE key topics in the area only on culturaIly, human and diffusion is of hominid locomotion. Human Iocomotion The principal importance of the hominid can be divided into two basic forms: maritime capability is not that it autonomous or self-propelled locomotion, enabJed Homo erectus and later hominids to which includes settle a ntlmber islands as weil as some and locomotion, in continents, it is very much greater than that. pm'ru,p" of nature are harnessed by There ean be no doubt that what the hominids or humans. We can also observe the human ascent more than any other same dichotomy by dividing such abilities into development is what I have ealled the that are either culturally or non- 'domestication of natural systems': the culturally As there is no evolution technologies that have 6

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amp L$IIP1JWrt VoL 3 lJsue Number 10 2002

HUMANSMARITIME DISPERSAL OF

by

Robert G Bednarik President International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director Institute of Replicative Arcbaeology (INRA)

Summary

Tbe global evidence presently available for Pleistocene maritime navigation is comprebensively reviewed and considered within tbe context of tbe relevant tecbnologies It reveals a pattern of widespread island colonisation during tbc Late Pleistocene and of mucb earlier ugtltt

abilities in two world regions soutb-eastern Asia and tbc Mediterranean Sea barriers bave acted as technologicaJ filters for bominids in tbe sense that their crossing was only possible at specific technological thresbolds Tbis principle is similar to the filtering effects of the same barriers on animal species wbich relate to tbe distance a breeding population was able to cross by one means or another To bettel und erstand tbe technologicai magnitude of these many maritime accomplisbments expeditions are currently engaged in aseries of replicative experiments The theoretical conditions of these experiments are examined The paper concludes with tbe proposition that bominid cognitive and cultural evolution during tbe Middle and early Late Pleistocene has been severely misjudged Tbe navigationai feats of Pleistocene seafarers confirm the cultural evidence of sopbistication already available in palaeoart study

in the human genes fuumlr assisted locomotion to transfer such capabilities genetically they can

ONE OF THE key topics in the area only on culturaIly human and diffusion is of hominid locomotion Human Iocomotion The principal importance of the hominid can be divided into two basic forms maritime capability is not that it autonomous or self-propelled locomotion enabJed Homo erectus and later hominids to which includes settle a ntlmber islands as weil as some and locomotion in continents it is very much greater than that

pmrup of nature are harnessed by There ean be no doubt that what the hominids or humans We can also observe the human ascent more than any other same dichotomy by dividing such abilities into development is what I have ealled the

that are either culturally or non- domestication of natural systems the culturally As there is no evolution technologies that have

6

in harnessing the energies of nature The demonstration of what of by the pnorm

current and buoyancy was broke sea barriers This was

the single achievement in human history than invention the wheel

agricu lrure or or flying lU By to monumental importance of ocean Neil ftrst step onto lunar surface was indeed no more than a small step for mankind

of humanity was decided around a million years ago when made a conscious deeision to entrust their very existence to a contraption they themselves had built to their future in an unknown land Since that moment in

the destiny the planet Earth has become closely intertwined with the of the human it led to the irreversible and ever-accelerating technological spiral now transforms biomass our planet and heraIds human capacity to affeet in space The

extinction catastrophe on has developed this technological ascent of our which at a rate massively outstripping our physical cognitive

evolution Therefore it is of scientific to

just how the hominid domestication began

IT IS the most important aspects study of hominid

diffusion our every corner this planet-and

beyond limits Human pVlnltgtr

Pleistocene was extent by seafaring than orthodox and outdated is capable of absorbing The of archaeology is full of

that lack any scientific justification of Atlantic the and to various lost continents The real story of the of

3 Issue 2002

is much more exciting but it is a topic nobody had ever

contemplated 1 to so hence all literature we possess on this toplc is written by me All material evidence we possess navigation is from the Holocene generally less 8500 years old traditional view been that planned maritime locomotion COillmlefilCea in Mesolithic period became common in the Neolithic This has always found it difficult to absorb fact of Australian colonisation In years it conjured up images of individual humans drifting out to see to a or some

floating vegetation matter in the way rodents succeeded in many sea barriers J962 it was widely assumed that Australia was only settled in the

but then accepted time the occupation of this has relentless ly pushed in time lt now stands at more than 60 000 years ago and may be forced back further still Moreover before these people could embark on the major sea

an unseen continent they to cross lesser sea width from a few kilometres to 40 or 50

traditional model explained by claiming that seafaring was invented fully modern Homo sapiens arriving in Java as if in response to not being able to proceed on land any with landfall in

perhaps 60 000 and 80 000 years ago that would demand an almost impossible and certainly implausible

F AR Anglo-American version past is this is we stand

currently we have a that konn

increasingly incongruous as research But most importantly it has

forty years by the Wallacean presence

hominids a stegodont-dominated fauna had been demonstrated by Dr Theodor

7

amp 3 ISfue ~hh~ 10 2002

Verhoeven The reason very simply was this had not been published m English matter was still ignored Sondaar et al (1994) this hominid occupation to around of the Middle over 700 000 years ago by palaeomagnetic analysis They demonstrated that hominid must have

Homo erectus and that he had several of sea to Flores

it is fair to say that at time most unaware the very significant implications it has Pleistocene archaeology

TO with of how modern humans could have Java so rapidly and set inventing navigation as if in

to immediately travel to an unknown Australia becomes With a locally developed tradition many hundreds of millennia in the it is

to invoke arrival of a arrived more intelligent but entirely hypothetical kind human Moreover al1 the

model collapse now modern human behaviour as defmed by this model had

in South-east Asia for the best part of a million years and included language and symbolic Complex sodal systems and technologies must certainly been

to the because them it would have impossible to organise and execute such courageous

Initially all of sea journeys were with the opposite shore within sight but in case of final to

almost certainly from Roti or Timor tlle target coast only became

completing at least nine-tenth journey indirect presence of aland mass however can be predicted by a variety

such as smoke from major types c10ud

and sea creatures in consistent directions Such however to be understood not just by automatie response they to eonsciously understood had to be

in to be to eonvince members of a group that this was a worthwhile effort that had a reasonable

of suecess

effort to be

male it had to have a minimum number

especially participants reproductive age perhaps around a dozen individuals To transport a number of humans and their supplies a of minimum to be

and to do this with stone tools involved a eonsiderable investment effort and material Common sense teils us so but it does not provide any

JANUARY 1957 seven years after eommeneing on Flores (Verhoeven 1968 395 sec Verhoeven I

1956 I 1958c I Verhoeven 1959 and

Geldern 1954) Dr Theodor Verhoeven

of sttgOIClorltl

bone found by fossilised

Joseph Dapangole on a trip A few years earlier similar faunal remains located on 1957) In March 1957 Verhoeven found stone blades eroding from fossiliferous at Ola Bula (Verhoeven

had

400) After notifYing the authorities these he was joined in his seareh A M R and A S

from the Museum Bogoriense and a of

8

LVru amp 11 VaL 3 IJJue NumbeT 10 2002

stone tools they assembled over three days was sent to Dr Hooijer in Leiden for a more detailed Henri

among initial finds a number of typ ica I Lower Palaeolithic stone implements (Verhoeven 1958a 265) while

initially to the Middle

Verhoeven sueeeeded m demonstrating the contemporaneity the fossil the when he

directly in the thin fossiHferous stratum at the nearby Boa Leza (Verhoeven 1968) The eondition of fmds in upper part of this layer showed they had not subjected to fluvial repositioning were sharp and

and remains occasionally oecurred in articu lation Moreover concurrence of the Stegodon-dominated

and the archaic stone tools was not to a Verhoeven

it at nearby Mata he excavated in 1 In 1968 while in

Europe he teamed up with Professor Johannes the Anthropos-Jnstitut Germany and the two

in the same year at Boa Mata and Lembah with three large

excavation teams Maringer confirmed validity of all of Verhoevens crucial

collaboration led to a pubIications about the preshy

of (Maringer and Verhoeven 1970~ 1970b 1970~ 1975 1 Maringer 1978)

IN THE MEANTlME worked briefly also on Wallacean Sumba and Timor (Fig 1) and in August 1964 he discovering Stegodontidae in West (Verhoeven 1964) He found no stone tools with them and in the decades there were no attempts to follow up this work (cf Glover and 1970) I commenced

field and Roti in 1998 the is land to the

below)

Soa plain on distinctive roek 1961) These are by fluvial erosion of the Late Pleistoeene The sloping volcanie Ola Kile deposit is overlain by the horizontal Ola Bula Formation a facies poorly eonsolidated

about 80 m thiekness at some 120 m at The fossiliferous band usuaily measuring from one to three metres oeeurs in lowest part

above a distinetive white its

up to m thiek were to early research fonned at or

slightly below sea as shown by their fossil foraminifera (Morwood et al 1999

that fossil indicates conditions) and are in turn capped by a comparatively recent volcanic deposit layer consists of two definable horizons a lower sandy component indicative some water

and an upper lacking evidence of fluvial movement bones and stone tools In both deposits the stone tools and bones occur

sometirnes in very e10se proxirnity even in direct contaet

KOENIGSWALD eventually estirnated age this deposit to be between 830 000 and 500 000 years (Koenigswald and 1973) on the the palaeontology presence of tektites in it (Ashok Ghosh pers comm 1996) and favoured an age of 710 ka Subsequent to Maringers death in 981 the work of Sondaar (1984 1987) and others to paleomagnetic two In

1991 1992 one at Menge and one at Tang Talo (Sondaar et aL 1994) At the first

9

bull bull bull bull bull bull

ltI ltgt ltgt ltI

~ - bull bull bullbull bull

~

-lt

c)

~ c a ~

b

- -~ ~

ltlt bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull -

~ ~ 2 ~ ~ 0 0 __~====~____~km bull-b ~

ltgt N

lt1 ~ti ~ ~

~ Figure 1 Map ofSouthern Wallacea (Nusa Tenggara) Indonesia The presumed dividing line between the Eurasian and Australian continental plates is shown between Flores and Sumba

Wallaces biogeographicalline runs between Bali and Lombok The locations of known hominid occupation evidence ofthe Lower and Middle Pleistocene are indicated

o

and Boa Leza

C

~ h

~

~ C)

~

2 tools oftbe final Early to be between 000 and 850

Migration amp DijJusion Vol 3 Issue Number 102002

site what to the MatuyamashyBrunhes reversal to normal polarity (780000 BP) occurs 15 m beJow the fossiliferous stratum which is in VlllIJ1

Koenigswalds

analysis of a slightly greater age of this approximately 880 000 and 800 000 years (Morwood et al 1998) An Indonesian-Australian research program is currently under way at over ten sites in the region and Kuckenburg 1999) using a of analytical methods to explore of the early hominid relevant sedimentation in prep) Secure datings so far become available Mata Menge Koba Tuwa and and a11 fall between 750 000 850 000 years BP (Morwood et al 1999)

IN-DEPTH research into the Pleistoeene human oceupation in 1998 after quarry in southern (Bednarik I 998a) involves several islands western half politicaHy unstable began to focus on the valley near Atambua There a Pleistocene sediments occurs elay deposits containing a abundance of marine shells and snails an uplift of over 300 metres Weaiwe Formation a Pleistocene conglomerate of

from 1998 (Bednarik 1 Kuckenburg 1999) human presence in oeeurs at two Motaoan and 1999a 2000a) Radiometrie and

the sediments 1S in progress but no doubt that a Lower

ofTimor has

THE CURRENT Indonesian-Australian work conftrmed the occurrence

tools the fauna at the

in Flores Koba Mata Menge Leza N gamapa Kopu Watu and

Pauphadhi while Ola Bula Dozu Dhalu Sogola Tangi Talo and

only fossil delpmats from Tangi Talo

normal polarity (1994) have been

av of hominids years Morwood

et a1 s (1998) zircon fission-track 900000 plusmn 70 000 BP Hominid presence has

through stone tools to 000 and 850000 BP at four

may expect some minor findings but it seems

that Homo erectus was on the island of Flores by 800 000

similar stone tool with a similar fauna in a

PlelstOCeurome sediment and the link between the palaeontological is

because of the recovery fragment with signs of

impact and extensive buming at Toos in Weaiwe (Bednarik 1999a 2000a)

FLORES IS separated from Bali the Asian mainland

low sea level) by two and Sumbawa weil

islands) and the lack any BaH and Lombok was

by Wallace (1890) on biogeographical

observation it is supported by the continuing uplift in the arc of the Indonesian archipelago which amounts to several hundred metres over the past million years in this tectonicaJly subduction zone Despite mainland fauna

12

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

in harnessing the energies of nature The demonstration of what of by the pnorm

current and buoyancy was broke sea barriers This was

the single achievement in human history than invention the wheel

agricu lrure or or flying lU By to monumental importance of ocean Neil ftrst step onto lunar surface was indeed no more than a small step for mankind

of humanity was decided around a million years ago when made a conscious deeision to entrust their very existence to a contraption they themselves had built to their future in an unknown land Since that moment in

the destiny the planet Earth has become closely intertwined with the of the human it led to the irreversible and ever-accelerating technological spiral now transforms biomass our planet and heraIds human capacity to affeet in space The

extinction catastrophe on has developed this technological ascent of our which at a rate massively outstripping our physical cognitive

evolution Therefore it is of scientific to

just how the hominid domestication began

IT IS the most important aspects study of hominid

diffusion our every corner this planet-and

beyond limits Human pVlnltgtr

Pleistocene was extent by seafaring than orthodox and outdated is capable of absorbing The of archaeology is full of

that lack any scientific justification of Atlantic the and to various lost continents The real story of the of

3 Issue 2002

is much more exciting but it is a topic nobody had ever

contemplated 1 to so hence all literature we possess on this toplc is written by me All material evidence we possess navigation is from the Holocene generally less 8500 years old traditional view been that planned maritime locomotion COillmlefilCea in Mesolithic period became common in the Neolithic This has always found it difficult to absorb fact of Australian colonisation In years it conjured up images of individual humans drifting out to see to a or some

floating vegetation matter in the way rodents succeeded in many sea barriers J962 it was widely assumed that Australia was only settled in the

but then accepted time the occupation of this has relentless ly pushed in time lt now stands at more than 60 000 years ago and may be forced back further still Moreover before these people could embark on the major sea

an unseen continent they to cross lesser sea width from a few kilometres to 40 or 50

traditional model explained by claiming that seafaring was invented fully modern Homo sapiens arriving in Java as if in response to not being able to proceed on land any with landfall in

perhaps 60 000 and 80 000 years ago that would demand an almost impossible and certainly implausible

F AR Anglo-American version past is this is we stand

currently we have a that konn

increasingly incongruous as research But most importantly it has

forty years by the Wallacean presence

hominids a stegodont-dominated fauna had been demonstrated by Dr Theodor

7

amp 3 ISfue ~hh~ 10 2002

Verhoeven The reason very simply was this had not been published m English matter was still ignored Sondaar et al (1994) this hominid occupation to around of the Middle over 700 000 years ago by palaeomagnetic analysis They demonstrated that hominid must have

Homo erectus and that he had several of sea to Flores

it is fair to say that at time most unaware the very significant implications it has Pleistocene archaeology

TO with of how modern humans could have Java so rapidly and set inventing navigation as if in

to immediately travel to an unknown Australia becomes With a locally developed tradition many hundreds of millennia in the it is

to invoke arrival of a arrived more intelligent but entirely hypothetical kind human Moreover al1 the

model collapse now modern human behaviour as defmed by this model had

in South-east Asia for the best part of a million years and included language and symbolic Complex sodal systems and technologies must certainly been

to the because them it would have impossible to organise and execute such courageous

Initially all of sea journeys were with the opposite shore within sight but in case of final to

almost certainly from Roti or Timor tlle target coast only became

completing at least nine-tenth journey indirect presence of aland mass however can be predicted by a variety

such as smoke from major types c10ud

and sea creatures in consistent directions Such however to be understood not just by automatie response they to eonsciously understood had to be

in to be to eonvince members of a group that this was a worthwhile effort that had a reasonable

of suecess

effort to be

male it had to have a minimum number

especially participants reproductive age perhaps around a dozen individuals To transport a number of humans and their supplies a of minimum to be

and to do this with stone tools involved a eonsiderable investment effort and material Common sense teils us so but it does not provide any

JANUARY 1957 seven years after eommeneing on Flores (Verhoeven 1968 395 sec Verhoeven I

1956 I 1958c I Verhoeven 1959 and

Geldern 1954) Dr Theodor Verhoeven

of sttgOIClorltl

bone found by fossilised

Joseph Dapangole on a trip A few years earlier similar faunal remains located on 1957) In March 1957 Verhoeven found stone blades eroding from fossiliferous at Ola Bula (Verhoeven

had

400) After notifYing the authorities these he was joined in his seareh A M R and A S

from the Museum Bogoriense and a of

8

LVru amp 11 VaL 3 IJJue NumbeT 10 2002

stone tools they assembled over three days was sent to Dr Hooijer in Leiden for a more detailed Henri

among initial finds a number of typ ica I Lower Palaeolithic stone implements (Verhoeven 1958a 265) while

initially to the Middle

Verhoeven sueeeeded m demonstrating the contemporaneity the fossil the when he

directly in the thin fossiHferous stratum at the nearby Boa Leza (Verhoeven 1968) The eondition of fmds in upper part of this layer showed they had not subjected to fluvial repositioning were sharp and

and remains occasionally oecurred in articu lation Moreover concurrence of the Stegodon-dominated

and the archaic stone tools was not to a Verhoeven

it at nearby Mata he excavated in 1 In 1968 while in

Europe he teamed up with Professor Johannes the Anthropos-Jnstitut Germany and the two

in the same year at Boa Mata and Lembah with three large

excavation teams Maringer confirmed validity of all of Verhoevens crucial

collaboration led to a pubIications about the preshy

of (Maringer and Verhoeven 1970~ 1970b 1970~ 1975 1 Maringer 1978)

IN THE MEANTlME worked briefly also on Wallacean Sumba and Timor (Fig 1) and in August 1964 he discovering Stegodontidae in West (Verhoeven 1964) He found no stone tools with them and in the decades there were no attempts to follow up this work (cf Glover and 1970) I commenced

field and Roti in 1998 the is land to the

below)

Soa plain on distinctive roek 1961) These are by fluvial erosion of the Late Pleistoeene The sloping volcanie Ola Kile deposit is overlain by the horizontal Ola Bula Formation a facies poorly eonsolidated

about 80 m thiekness at some 120 m at The fossiliferous band usuaily measuring from one to three metres oeeurs in lowest part

above a distinetive white its

up to m thiek were to early research fonned at or

slightly below sea as shown by their fossil foraminifera (Morwood et al 1999

that fossil indicates conditions) and are in turn capped by a comparatively recent volcanic deposit layer consists of two definable horizons a lower sandy component indicative some water

and an upper lacking evidence of fluvial movement bones and stone tools In both deposits the stone tools and bones occur

sometirnes in very e10se proxirnity even in direct contaet

KOENIGSWALD eventually estirnated age this deposit to be between 830 000 and 500 000 years (Koenigswald and 1973) on the the palaeontology presence of tektites in it (Ashok Ghosh pers comm 1996) and favoured an age of 710 ka Subsequent to Maringers death in 981 the work of Sondaar (1984 1987) and others to paleomagnetic two In

1991 1992 one at Menge and one at Tang Talo (Sondaar et aL 1994) At the first

9

bull bull bull bull bull bull

ltI ltgt ltgt ltI

~ - bull bull bullbull bull

~

-lt

c)

~ c a ~

b

- -~ ~

ltlt bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull -

~ ~ 2 ~ ~ 0 0 __~====~____~km bull-b ~

ltgt N

lt1 ~ti ~ ~

~ Figure 1 Map ofSouthern Wallacea (Nusa Tenggara) Indonesia The presumed dividing line between the Eurasian and Australian continental plates is shown between Flores and Sumba

Wallaces biogeographicalline runs between Bali and Lombok The locations of known hominid occupation evidence ofthe Lower and Middle Pleistocene are indicated

o

and Boa Leza

C

~ h

~

~ C)

~

2 tools oftbe final Early to be between 000 and 850

Migration amp DijJusion Vol 3 Issue Number 102002

site what to the MatuyamashyBrunhes reversal to normal polarity (780000 BP) occurs 15 m beJow the fossiliferous stratum which is in VlllIJ1

Koenigswalds

analysis of a slightly greater age of this approximately 880 000 and 800 000 years (Morwood et al 1998) An Indonesian-Australian research program is currently under way at over ten sites in the region and Kuckenburg 1999) using a of analytical methods to explore of the early hominid relevant sedimentation in prep) Secure datings so far become available Mata Menge Koba Tuwa and and a11 fall between 750 000 850 000 years BP (Morwood et al 1999)

IN-DEPTH research into the Pleistoeene human oceupation in 1998 after quarry in southern (Bednarik I 998a) involves several islands western half politicaHy unstable began to focus on the valley near Atambua There a Pleistocene sediments occurs elay deposits containing a abundance of marine shells and snails an uplift of over 300 metres Weaiwe Formation a Pleistocene conglomerate of

from 1998 (Bednarik 1 Kuckenburg 1999) human presence in oeeurs at two Motaoan and 1999a 2000a) Radiometrie and

the sediments 1S in progress but no doubt that a Lower

ofTimor has

THE CURRENT Indonesian-Australian work conftrmed the occurrence

tools the fauna at the

in Flores Koba Mata Menge Leza N gamapa Kopu Watu and

Pauphadhi while Ola Bula Dozu Dhalu Sogola Tangi Talo and

only fossil delpmats from Tangi Talo

normal polarity (1994) have been

av of hominids years Morwood

et a1 s (1998) zircon fission-track 900000 plusmn 70 000 BP Hominid presence has

through stone tools to 000 and 850000 BP at four

may expect some minor findings but it seems

that Homo erectus was on the island of Flores by 800 000

similar stone tool with a similar fauna in a

PlelstOCeurome sediment and the link between the palaeontological is

because of the recovery fragment with signs of

impact and extensive buming at Toos in Weaiwe (Bednarik 1999a 2000a)

FLORES IS separated from Bali the Asian mainland

low sea level) by two and Sumbawa weil

islands) and the lack any BaH and Lombok was

by Wallace (1890) on biogeographical

observation it is supported by the continuing uplift in the arc of the Indonesian archipelago which amounts to several hundred metres over the past million years in this tectonicaJly subduction zone Despite mainland fauna

12

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

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Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

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Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

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Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

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Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

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Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

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Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

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Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

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Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

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Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

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Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

amp 3 ISfue ~hh~ 10 2002

Verhoeven The reason very simply was this had not been published m English matter was still ignored Sondaar et al (1994) this hominid occupation to around of the Middle over 700 000 years ago by palaeomagnetic analysis They demonstrated that hominid must have

Homo erectus and that he had several of sea to Flores

it is fair to say that at time most unaware the very significant implications it has Pleistocene archaeology

TO with of how modern humans could have Java so rapidly and set inventing navigation as if in

to immediately travel to an unknown Australia becomes With a locally developed tradition many hundreds of millennia in the it is

to invoke arrival of a arrived more intelligent but entirely hypothetical kind human Moreover al1 the

model collapse now modern human behaviour as defmed by this model had

in South-east Asia for the best part of a million years and included language and symbolic Complex sodal systems and technologies must certainly been

to the because them it would have impossible to organise and execute such courageous

Initially all of sea journeys were with the opposite shore within sight but in case of final to

almost certainly from Roti or Timor tlle target coast only became

completing at least nine-tenth journey indirect presence of aland mass however can be predicted by a variety

such as smoke from major types c10ud

and sea creatures in consistent directions Such however to be understood not just by automatie response they to eonsciously understood had to be

in to be to eonvince members of a group that this was a worthwhile effort that had a reasonable

of suecess

effort to be

male it had to have a minimum number

especially participants reproductive age perhaps around a dozen individuals To transport a number of humans and their supplies a of minimum to be

and to do this with stone tools involved a eonsiderable investment effort and material Common sense teils us so but it does not provide any

JANUARY 1957 seven years after eommeneing on Flores (Verhoeven 1968 395 sec Verhoeven I

1956 I 1958c I Verhoeven 1959 and

Geldern 1954) Dr Theodor Verhoeven

of sttgOIClorltl

bone found by fossilised

Joseph Dapangole on a trip A few years earlier similar faunal remains located on 1957) In March 1957 Verhoeven found stone blades eroding from fossiliferous at Ola Bula (Verhoeven

had

400) After notifYing the authorities these he was joined in his seareh A M R and A S

from the Museum Bogoriense and a of

8

LVru amp 11 VaL 3 IJJue NumbeT 10 2002

stone tools they assembled over three days was sent to Dr Hooijer in Leiden for a more detailed Henri

among initial finds a number of typ ica I Lower Palaeolithic stone implements (Verhoeven 1958a 265) while

initially to the Middle

Verhoeven sueeeeded m demonstrating the contemporaneity the fossil the when he

directly in the thin fossiHferous stratum at the nearby Boa Leza (Verhoeven 1968) The eondition of fmds in upper part of this layer showed they had not subjected to fluvial repositioning were sharp and

and remains occasionally oecurred in articu lation Moreover concurrence of the Stegodon-dominated

and the archaic stone tools was not to a Verhoeven

it at nearby Mata he excavated in 1 In 1968 while in

Europe he teamed up with Professor Johannes the Anthropos-Jnstitut Germany and the two

in the same year at Boa Mata and Lembah with three large

excavation teams Maringer confirmed validity of all of Verhoevens crucial

collaboration led to a pubIications about the preshy

of (Maringer and Verhoeven 1970~ 1970b 1970~ 1975 1 Maringer 1978)

IN THE MEANTlME worked briefly also on Wallacean Sumba and Timor (Fig 1) and in August 1964 he discovering Stegodontidae in West (Verhoeven 1964) He found no stone tools with them and in the decades there were no attempts to follow up this work (cf Glover and 1970) I commenced

field and Roti in 1998 the is land to the

below)

Soa plain on distinctive roek 1961) These are by fluvial erosion of the Late Pleistoeene The sloping volcanie Ola Kile deposit is overlain by the horizontal Ola Bula Formation a facies poorly eonsolidated

about 80 m thiekness at some 120 m at The fossiliferous band usuaily measuring from one to three metres oeeurs in lowest part

above a distinetive white its

up to m thiek were to early research fonned at or

slightly below sea as shown by their fossil foraminifera (Morwood et al 1999

that fossil indicates conditions) and are in turn capped by a comparatively recent volcanic deposit layer consists of two definable horizons a lower sandy component indicative some water

and an upper lacking evidence of fluvial movement bones and stone tools In both deposits the stone tools and bones occur

sometirnes in very e10se proxirnity even in direct contaet

KOENIGSWALD eventually estirnated age this deposit to be between 830 000 and 500 000 years (Koenigswald and 1973) on the the palaeontology presence of tektites in it (Ashok Ghosh pers comm 1996) and favoured an age of 710 ka Subsequent to Maringers death in 981 the work of Sondaar (1984 1987) and others to paleomagnetic two In

1991 1992 one at Menge and one at Tang Talo (Sondaar et aL 1994) At the first

9

bull bull bull bull bull bull

ltI ltgt ltgt ltI

~ - bull bull bullbull bull

~

-lt

c)

~ c a ~

b

- -~ ~

ltlt bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull -

~ ~ 2 ~ ~ 0 0 __~====~____~km bull-b ~

ltgt N

lt1 ~ti ~ ~

~ Figure 1 Map ofSouthern Wallacea (Nusa Tenggara) Indonesia The presumed dividing line between the Eurasian and Australian continental plates is shown between Flores and Sumba

Wallaces biogeographicalline runs between Bali and Lombok The locations of known hominid occupation evidence ofthe Lower and Middle Pleistocene are indicated

o

and Boa Leza

C

~ h

~

~ C)

~

2 tools oftbe final Early to be between 000 and 850

Migration amp DijJusion Vol 3 Issue Number 102002

site what to the MatuyamashyBrunhes reversal to normal polarity (780000 BP) occurs 15 m beJow the fossiliferous stratum which is in VlllIJ1

Koenigswalds

analysis of a slightly greater age of this approximately 880 000 and 800 000 years (Morwood et al 1998) An Indonesian-Australian research program is currently under way at over ten sites in the region and Kuckenburg 1999) using a of analytical methods to explore of the early hominid relevant sedimentation in prep) Secure datings so far become available Mata Menge Koba Tuwa and and a11 fall between 750 000 850 000 years BP (Morwood et al 1999)

IN-DEPTH research into the Pleistoeene human oceupation in 1998 after quarry in southern (Bednarik I 998a) involves several islands western half politicaHy unstable began to focus on the valley near Atambua There a Pleistocene sediments occurs elay deposits containing a abundance of marine shells and snails an uplift of over 300 metres Weaiwe Formation a Pleistocene conglomerate of

from 1998 (Bednarik 1 Kuckenburg 1999) human presence in oeeurs at two Motaoan and 1999a 2000a) Radiometrie and

the sediments 1S in progress but no doubt that a Lower

ofTimor has

THE CURRENT Indonesian-Australian work conftrmed the occurrence

tools the fauna at the

in Flores Koba Mata Menge Leza N gamapa Kopu Watu and

Pauphadhi while Ola Bula Dozu Dhalu Sogola Tangi Talo and

only fossil delpmats from Tangi Talo

normal polarity (1994) have been

av of hominids years Morwood

et a1 s (1998) zircon fission-track 900000 plusmn 70 000 BP Hominid presence has

through stone tools to 000 and 850000 BP at four

may expect some minor findings but it seems

that Homo erectus was on the island of Flores by 800 000

similar stone tool with a similar fauna in a

PlelstOCeurome sediment and the link between the palaeontological is

because of the recovery fragment with signs of

impact and extensive buming at Toos in Weaiwe (Bednarik 1999a 2000a)

FLORES IS separated from Bali the Asian mainland

low sea level) by two and Sumbawa weil

islands) and the lack any BaH and Lombok was

by Wallace (1890) on biogeographical

observation it is supported by the continuing uplift in the arc of the Indonesian archipelago which amounts to several hundred metres over the past million years in this tectonicaJly subduction zone Despite mainland fauna

12

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Aikens C M and 1982 Prehistory ofJapan Academic New York Allen J Gosden Jones R and White J P 1988 dates human occupation

New Ireland northem Melanesia Nature 1 707-709 Allen and Holdaway 1995 contamination of radiocarbon determinations in

Australia Antiquity 69 101 112 Anderson A 1987 developments in Japanese prehistory a review Antiquity 61 270-81 Amold B 1966 Pirogues monoxyles dEurope centrale Neuchaumltel

H 1998 Physical adaptation the Minatogawa people to island 1-

Ryukyu lsland~ Symposium pp S and Kallupa B 1 1 On the dispersion of Homo In

eastern Indonesia the Palaeolithic of South SuJawesi Current Anthropology 31 Bednarik R G 1 On the cognitive deveJopment ofhominids Man andEnvironment 15 1-7 Bednarik G 199091 Epistemology in palaeoart Origini 15 57-78

R 1992 and archaeological Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2 27-43

Bednarik R G 1995a Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 605-634

Bednarik G 1995b Untertag-Bergbau im Quartaumlr 4546 161-175 Bednarik R G 1995c Homo erectus The ArtefacI 1891 Bednarik R G 1995d MetamorphoJogy in lieu of uniformitarianism Oxford Journal of

Archaeology J4 I I Bednarik R 1997a of Pleistocene beads in documenting hominid cognition Rock Art

Research 14 27-41 Bednarik R G 1997b The origins of and language The Artefael 20 16-56 Bednarik R G 1997c The evidence of ocean International Journal ofNautieal

Arehaeology 183-191 Bednarik R G 1997d The initial peopling Wallacea and Sahu1 Anthropos 92 355-367

R 1998a An In ~nprp seafaring International Journal Nautieal Arehaeology

Bednarik R G 1998b The australopithecine cobble South South African Archaeological Bulletin 53 3-8

Bednarik R G 1999a Maritime navigation in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 328

R 1 Pleistocene seafaring in the Anthropologie 37(3) Bednarik R G 2000a Pleistocene Timor some corrections Australian 51 16-20 Bednarik R G 2000b The origins of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial

experimentation Journal oflberian Archaeology 3 ] 1-23 Bednarik R G 2001 a An AcheuHan figurine from Morocco Rock Art Research 18 115-6

R G 2001 b The of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial replicative experimentation Journal 3 11-23

Bednarik R G and M 1999 Nale Tasih Eine Floszligfahrt in die Steinzeit Stuttgart

28

Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

Belitzky S Goren-Inbar N and Werker E 1991 AMiddIe Pleistocene wooden plank with manshymade polish Journal ofHuman Evolution 20 349-353

Bellwood P 1996 A 32000 year archaeological record from the Moluccas Abstract The environmental and cultural his tory and dynamtcs of the AustraUan - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environmental Science Monash University Melbourne

Bini C Martini F Pitzalis G and Ulzega A 1993 Sa Coa de Sa Multa e Sa Pedrosa Pantallinu due Paleosuperfici clactoniane in Sardegna Alti della XXX Riunione Scientifica Paleosuperjici dei Pleistocene edel primo Olicene in ItaUa Processi si Formazione e Interpretazione Venosa ed Isernia 26-29 oltobre 1991 Istituto ltaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria Firenze pp 179-197

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Clark G 1971 Excavations at Star Carr Cambridge University Press Cambridge Copeland L 1978 The Middle Palaeolithic of Aldun and Ras el Kelb (Lebanon) first results from a

study ofthe flint industry Paleorient 4 33-37 Davidson 1 and Noble W 1989 The archaeology of perception Traces of depiction and language

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erectus in India Hominidae Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Human Paleontology Editoriale ]aca Book Milan pp 237-239

Diamond 1 M 1977 Distributional strategies In 1 Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistortc studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 295-316

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Facchini F and G Giusberti 1992 Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island ofCrete In G Braumluer and F H Smith (eds) Continuity and replacement pp 189-208 RotterdamIBrookfield A A Balkena

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Australia archaeology and thermoluminescence dating of Jinmium rock-shelter Northern Territory Antiquity 70 751-773

Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

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Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

LVru amp 11 VaL 3 IJJue NumbeT 10 2002

stone tools they assembled over three days was sent to Dr Hooijer in Leiden for a more detailed Henri

among initial finds a number of typ ica I Lower Palaeolithic stone implements (Verhoeven 1958a 265) while

initially to the Middle

Verhoeven sueeeeded m demonstrating the contemporaneity the fossil the when he

directly in the thin fossiHferous stratum at the nearby Boa Leza (Verhoeven 1968) The eondition of fmds in upper part of this layer showed they had not subjected to fluvial repositioning were sharp and

and remains occasionally oecurred in articu lation Moreover concurrence of the Stegodon-dominated

and the archaic stone tools was not to a Verhoeven

it at nearby Mata he excavated in 1 In 1968 while in

Europe he teamed up with Professor Johannes the Anthropos-Jnstitut Germany and the two

in the same year at Boa Mata and Lembah with three large

excavation teams Maringer confirmed validity of all of Verhoevens crucial

collaboration led to a pubIications about the preshy

of (Maringer and Verhoeven 1970~ 1970b 1970~ 1975 1 Maringer 1978)

IN THE MEANTlME worked briefly also on Wallacean Sumba and Timor (Fig 1) and in August 1964 he discovering Stegodontidae in West (Verhoeven 1964) He found no stone tools with them and in the decades there were no attempts to follow up this work (cf Glover and 1970) I commenced

field and Roti in 1998 the is land to the

below)

Soa plain on distinctive roek 1961) These are by fluvial erosion of the Late Pleistoeene The sloping volcanie Ola Kile deposit is overlain by the horizontal Ola Bula Formation a facies poorly eonsolidated

about 80 m thiekness at some 120 m at The fossiliferous band usuaily measuring from one to three metres oeeurs in lowest part

above a distinetive white its

up to m thiek were to early research fonned at or

slightly below sea as shown by their fossil foraminifera (Morwood et al 1999

that fossil indicates conditions) and are in turn capped by a comparatively recent volcanic deposit layer consists of two definable horizons a lower sandy component indicative some water

and an upper lacking evidence of fluvial movement bones and stone tools In both deposits the stone tools and bones occur

sometirnes in very e10se proxirnity even in direct contaet

KOENIGSWALD eventually estirnated age this deposit to be between 830 000 and 500 000 years (Koenigswald and 1973) on the the palaeontology presence of tektites in it (Ashok Ghosh pers comm 1996) and favoured an age of 710 ka Subsequent to Maringers death in 981 the work of Sondaar (1984 1987) and others to paleomagnetic two In

1991 1992 one at Menge and one at Tang Talo (Sondaar et aL 1994) At the first

9

bull bull bull bull bull bull

ltI ltgt ltgt ltI

~ - bull bull bullbull bull

~

-lt

c)

~ c a ~

b

- -~ ~

ltlt bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull -

~ ~ 2 ~ ~ 0 0 __~====~____~km bull-b ~

ltgt N

lt1 ~ti ~ ~

~ Figure 1 Map ofSouthern Wallacea (Nusa Tenggara) Indonesia The presumed dividing line between the Eurasian and Australian continental plates is shown between Flores and Sumba

Wallaces biogeographicalline runs between Bali and Lombok The locations of known hominid occupation evidence ofthe Lower and Middle Pleistocene are indicated

o

and Boa Leza

C

~ h

~

~ C)

~

2 tools oftbe final Early to be between 000 and 850

Migration amp DijJusion Vol 3 Issue Number 102002

site what to the MatuyamashyBrunhes reversal to normal polarity (780000 BP) occurs 15 m beJow the fossiliferous stratum which is in VlllIJ1

Koenigswalds

analysis of a slightly greater age of this approximately 880 000 and 800 000 years (Morwood et al 1998) An Indonesian-Australian research program is currently under way at over ten sites in the region and Kuckenburg 1999) using a of analytical methods to explore of the early hominid relevant sedimentation in prep) Secure datings so far become available Mata Menge Koba Tuwa and and a11 fall between 750 000 850 000 years BP (Morwood et al 1999)

IN-DEPTH research into the Pleistoeene human oceupation in 1998 after quarry in southern (Bednarik I 998a) involves several islands western half politicaHy unstable began to focus on the valley near Atambua There a Pleistocene sediments occurs elay deposits containing a abundance of marine shells and snails an uplift of over 300 metres Weaiwe Formation a Pleistocene conglomerate of

from 1998 (Bednarik 1 Kuckenburg 1999) human presence in oeeurs at two Motaoan and 1999a 2000a) Radiometrie and

the sediments 1S in progress but no doubt that a Lower

ofTimor has

THE CURRENT Indonesian-Australian work conftrmed the occurrence

tools the fauna at the

in Flores Koba Mata Menge Leza N gamapa Kopu Watu and

Pauphadhi while Ola Bula Dozu Dhalu Sogola Tangi Talo and

only fossil delpmats from Tangi Talo

normal polarity (1994) have been

av of hominids years Morwood

et a1 s (1998) zircon fission-track 900000 plusmn 70 000 BP Hominid presence has

through stone tools to 000 and 850000 BP at four

may expect some minor findings but it seems

that Homo erectus was on the island of Flores by 800 000

similar stone tool with a similar fauna in a

PlelstOCeurome sediment and the link between the palaeontological is

because of the recovery fragment with signs of

impact and extensive buming at Toos in Weaiwe (Bednarik 1999a 2000a)

FLORES IS separated from Bali the Asian mainland

low sea level) by two and Sumbawa weil

islands) and the lack any BaH and Lombok was

by Wallace (1890) on biogeographical

observation it is supported by the continuing uplift in the arc of the Indonesian archipelago which amounts to several hundred metres over the past million years in this tectonicaJly subduction zone Despite mainland fauna

12

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

bull bull bull bull bull bull

ltI ltgt ltgt ltI

~ - bull bull bullbull bull

~

-lt

c)

~ c a ~

b

- -~ ~

ltlt bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull bull -

~ ~ 2 ~ ~ 0 0 __~====~____~km bull-b ~

ltgt N

lt1 ~ti ~ ~

~ Figure 1 Map ofSouthern Wallacea (Nusa Tenggara) Indonesia The presumed dividing line between the Eurasian and Australian continental plates is shown between Flores and Sumba

Wallaces biogeographicalline runs between Bali and Lombok The locations of known hominid occupation evidence ofthe Lower and Middle Pleistocene are indicated

o

and Boa Leza

C

~ h

~

~ C)

~

2 tools oftbe final Early to be between 000 and 850

Migration amp DijJusion Vol 3 Issue Number 102002

site what to the MatuyamashyBrunhes reversal to normal polarity (780000 BP) occurs 15 m beJow the fossiliferous stratum which is in VlllIJ1

Koenigswalds

analysis of a slightly greater age of this approximately 880 000 and 800 000 years (Morwood et al 1998) An Indonesian-Australian research program is currently under way at over ten sites in the region and Kuckenburg 1999) using a of analytical methods to explore of the early hominid relevant sedimentation in prep) Secure datings so far become available Mata Menge Koba Tuwa and and a11 fall between 750 000 850 000 years BP (Morwood et al 1999)

IN-DEPTH research into the Pleistoeene human oceupation in 1998 after quarry in southern (Bednarik I 998a) involves several islands western half politicaHy unstable began to focus on the valley near Atambua There a Pleistocene sediments occurs elay deposits containing a abundance of marine shells and snails an uplift of over 300 metres Weaiwe Formation a Pleistocene conglomerate of

from 1998 (Bednarik 1 Kuckenburg 1999) human presence in oeeurs at two Motaoan and 1999a 2000a) Radiometrie and

the sediments 1S in progress but no doubt that a Lower

ofTimor has

THE CURRENT Indonesian-Australian work conftrmed the occurrence

tools the fauna at the

in Flores Koba Mata Menge Leza N gamapa Kopu Watu and

Pauphadhi while Ola Bula Dozu Dhalu Sogola Tangi Talo and

only fossil delpmats from Tangi Talo

normal polarity (1994) have been

av of hominids years Morwood

et a1 s (1998) zircon fission-track 900000 plusmn 70 000 BP Hominid presence has

through stone tools to 000 and 850000 BP at four

may expect some minor findings but it seems

that Homo erectus was on the island of Flores by 800 000

similar stone tool with a similar fauna in a

PlelstOCeurome sediment and the link between the palaeontological is

because of the recovery fragment with signs of

impact and extensive buming at Toos in Weaiwe (Bednarik 1999a 2000a)

FLORES IS separated from Bali the Asian mainland

low sea level) by two and Sumbawa weil

islands) and the lack any BaH and Lombok was

by Wallace (1890) on biogeographical

observation it is supported by the continuing uplift in the arc of the Indonesian archipelago which amounts to several hundred metres over the past million years in this tectonicaJly subduction zone Despite mainland fauna

12

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

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Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

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Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

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Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

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Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

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Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

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Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

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humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

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Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

and Boa Leza

C

~ h

~

~ C)

~

2 tools oftbe final Early to be between 000 and 850

Migration amp DijJusion Vol 3 Issue Number 102002

site what to the MatuyamashyBrunhes reversal to normal polarity (780000 BP) occurs 15 m beJow the fossiliferous stratum which is in VlllIJ1

Koenigswalds

analysis of a slightly greater age of this approximately 880 000 and 800 000 years (Morwood et al 1998) An Indonesian-Australian research program is currently under way at over ten sites in the region and Kuckenburg 1999) using a of analytical methods to explore of the early hominid relevant sedimentation in prep) Secure datings so far become available Mata Menge Koba Tuwa and and a11 fall between 750 000 850 000 years BP (Morwood et al 1999)

IN-DEPTH research into the Pleistoeene human oceupation in 1998 after quarry in southern (Bednarik I 998a) involves several islands western half politicaHy unstable began to focus on the valley near Atambua There a Pleistocene sediments occurs elay deposits containing a abundance of marine shells and snails an uplift of over 300 metres Weaiwe Formation a Pleistocene conglomerate of

from 1998 (Bednarik 1 Kuckenburg 1999) human presence in oeeurs at two Motaoan and 1999a 2000a) Radiometrie and

the sediments 1S in progress but no doubt that a Lower

ofTimor has

THE CURRENT Indonesian-Australian work conftrmed the occurrence

tools the fauna at the

in Flores Koba Mata Menge Leza N gamapa Kopu Watu and

Pauphadhi while Ola Bula Dozu Dhalu Sogola Tangi Talo and

only fossil delpmats from Tangi Talo

normal polarity (1994) have been

av of hominids years Morwood

et a1 s (1998) zircon fission-track 900000 plusmn 70 000 BP Hominid presence has

through stone tools to 000 and 850000 BP at four

may expect some minor findings but it seems

that Homo erectus was on the island of Flores by 800 000

similar stone tool with a similar fauna in a

PlelstOCeurome sediment and the link between the palaeontological is

because of the recovery fragment with signs of

impact and extensive buming at Toos in Weaiwe (Bednarik 1999a 2000a)

FLORES IS separated from Bali the Asian mainland

low sea level) by two and Sumbawa weil

islands) and the lack any BaH and Lombok was

by Wallace (1890) on biogeographical

observation it is supported by the continuing uplift in the arc of the Indonesian archipelago which amounts to several hundred metres over the past million years in this tectonicaJly subduction zone Despite mainland fauna

12

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

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29

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

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Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

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Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp DijJusion Vol 3 Issue Number 102002

site what to the MatuyamashyBrunhes reversal to normal polarity (780000 BP) occurs 15 m beJow the fossiliferous stratum which is in VlllIJ1

Koenigswalds

analysis of a slightly greater age of this approximately 880 000 and 800 000 years (Morwood et al 1998) An Indonesian-Australian research program is currently under way at over ten sites in the region and Kuckenburg 1999) using a of analytical methods to explore of the early hominid relevant sedimentation in prep) Secure datings so far become available Mata Menge Koba Tuwa and and a11 fall between 750 000 850 000 years BP (Morwood et al 1999)

IN-DEPTH research into the Pleistoeene human oceupation in 1998 after quarry in southern (Bednarik I 998a) involves several islands western half politicaHy unstable began to focus on the valley near Atambua There a Pleistocene sediments occurs elay deposits containing a abundance of marine shells and snails an uplift of over 300 metres Weaiwe Formation a Pleistocene conglomerate of

from 1998 (Bednarik 1 Kuckenburg 1999) human presence in oeeurs at two Motaoan and 1999a 2000a) Radiometrie and

the sediments 1S in progress but no doubt that a Lower

ofTimor has

THE CURRENT Indonesian-Australian work conftrmed the occurrence

tools the fauna at the

in Flores Koba Mata Menge Leza N gamapa Kopu Watu and

Pauphadhi while Ola Bula Dozu Dhalu Sogola Tangi Talo and

only fossil delpmats from Tangi Talo

normal polarity (1994) have been

av of hominids years Morwood

et a1 s (1998) zircon fission-track 900000 plusmn 70 000 BP Hominid presence has

through stone tools to 000 and 850000 BP at four

may expect some minor findings but it seems

that Homo erectus was on the island of Flores by 800 000

similar stone tool with a similar fauna in a

PlelstOCeurome sediment and the link between the palaeontological is

because of the recovery fragment with signs of

impact and extensive buming at Toos in Weaiwe (Bednarik 1999a 2000a)

FLORES IS separated from Bali the Asian mainland

low sea level) by two and Sumbawa weil

islands) and the lack any BaH and Lombok was

by Wallace (1890) on biogeographical

observation it is supported by the continuing uplift in the arc of the Indonesian archipelago which amounts to several hundred metres over the past million years in this tectonicaJly subduction zone Despite mainland fauna

12

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

amp ViIUJWrl Vol 3 IHue Number 10 2002

both extant and terrestrial eutherians that can found as far east as Bali few of them ever reaehed islands of Nusa

or southern Wallaeea such as the dog pig and macaque were probably earried by humans while small mammals mostly M uridae but including Trachypithecus

probably unaided perhaps on vegetation (Diamond 1977) Proboscideans however crossed to numerous of the islands of Wallacea (Hooijer I

rtlo 1 1964 Glover 1969 1976 Hantoro 1996) and the Philippines (Koenigswald 1949) where they experienced speciation and dwarfism Elephants are superb long-distance

to swim formation across African lakes and in one reported case swam a distance of 48 km at sea and at a of 27 kmlh (Johnson 1980) In swimming individuals may tow others to allow them to rest buoyancy is helped by digestive gases in

and their habit of travelling as a would success a founding

population upon landfall

HOMINIDS however lacked the trunks and swimrning ability elephants Even

tapirs and hippos some of capable apparently never Wallacea Although some researchers desperate to save

Bartstra et al (1991) model rapid Wallacean Australian settlement just 50000 years ago have that there may have a land bridge across Lombok Strait this is highly implausible and implication is that the hominid settlement of Flores was at two but possibly three of sea This conclusion is essential particularly in

even more hominids subsequently Tirnor and Roti

southernmost point of of the archipelaga As this is inner are by a deep graben it would be

tectonically absurd to look for a former land between Alor and Timar Strait of

Ombai is over 3000 m demonstrated beyond any that Homo erectus was seafarer

THIS SIMPLE realisation represents several conundrums to traditional archaeology It seems generaJly agreed (eg Noble and Davidson 1993 1996) that seafaring particularly when it is for the colonisation of new lands involves the skilIed and standardised use of communication presumably language or speech Therefore the WaJlaeean evidence use a form of almost a million years ago Not only is this in stark contrast to current UV~1i t

it the question how it was possible for conventional archaeology to have so

the record dogma particularly in Angloshy

school of Pleistocene archaeology emphasises the short-range model of cognitive evolution systems

blade tool shelter

construetion forward planning human interment or any fonn pereeived modern human behaviour are the preserve of very evolution anatomically Tobias 1995 for a pertinent cntlque this concept) who aceording to the ideologically elosely related Eve scenario

tA in one small cultural abilities are claimed to have been introduced during the last millennia the

so this model cannot accommodate ability before 50 000 BP without sustaining severe damage (Chase and Dibble 1987 Davidson and Noble 1989)

Eves progeny reached 50000 years aga invented and sailed at onee to Sahul (Pleistocene Australia)

13

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

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Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

29

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

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Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

lVIlUT71J7lt1n amp Vol 3 lssue Number 102002

THE among archaeologists rather unpopular

long-range cogmtJve development which began perhaps three million years aga (Bednarik 1998b) and led to

900 000 800 000 years mineral pigment and the objects (crystals fossil

et al 1989 Bednarik 1990) excellent wooden artefacts

1956 Howell 1966 1990 Belitzky et al 1991 1 1997) and eventually

Pa1aeolithic (notably the of beads and

petroglyphs lCOnOl2raohJIC palaeoart

2001a) burins and backed

Lower (Rust 1950

1961 Copeland 1978 1982) and following Middle

Palaeolithic period provides ample evidence of human haematite use palaeoart (Bednarik 1 harpoons (Narr 1966 123 Brooks et al Yellen et al 1995 Bednarik mining and quarrying (Bednarik and other forms of

n 1- cultural complexity This a multiregional hypothesis of

some conspicuously Lower Palaeolithic

cultural contact across much of the Old World

groups humans) to

more that the human most of Old World despite

significant technological and ethnic sufficient genetic and

UI to permit a certain level of evidence is in stark

of genocide or Eve model-and

Middle

colonisation of Nusa hominids more recent

undertaken even

to have aga et and Holdaway I dates reported in attributable to Since southern was apparently settled much earlier than any other part of the archipelago the who achieved a successful colonisation probably set out from Timor or Middle Palaeolithic tecltmCIOIlY

various 27000 BP (today 120 km (west of New Guinea) New New Guinea) and Buka Island (180 New Ireland) (Allen et al 1988 Wickler and Spriggs 1988 Bellwood I 1997) In contrast to the sea Tenggara which were all possible target shore in sight at any sea level Pleistocene the destination was not much of the journey on these much more recent crossmgs including the one to Australia At least some crossings were even made in the alternative direction for

14

amp Vol 3 hrue Number 2002

the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

15

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

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Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

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Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

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Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

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Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

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the cuscus a Sahulian marsupial was probably to the Moluccas (Bellwood 1996)

PHYSICAL of Pleistocene seafaring has not ever been reported nor have we any

depictions watercraft in Pleistocene art Direct evidence

navigation peters out 8000 possibly 10 500 years aga (Bednarik 1997b 1997c) consisting of Mesolithic paddles canoes and a purported reindeer antler of a skin boat of Ahrensburgian 1

I C lark I I 1980 McGrail 1987 1991 and Kuckenburg 1999) Watercraft and paddles of the late first half the Holocene are also known from two Japanese sites (Aikens and Higuchi 1982 124 Ikawa-Smith 1986)

most of is from the western uvcu Europe Indirect evidence

seafaring in form of insular obsidian from the mainland comes from

In being only 11 000 RP 1

Aspinall 1990) It the western

with inadequate proof dErrico much sea crossing and island

colonisation is indicated by Mousterian on Kefallinfa west (Kavvadias 1 Warner and Bednarik and the presence in situ Clactonian-like stone tools in Middle Pleistocene sediments on Sardinia (Martini 1992 et aL 1993 Sondaar et aL

Crete was occupied by during Middle Palaeolithic at latest (but possibly as indicated by the human remains found there which are modern but possess preserved archaic

and Giusberti 1992) In Japan is demonstrated at

Okinawa and Kozushima (Anderson in North America by the Arlington femurs from Island (reportedly 13 000 years old) However in

to the evidence in the

seas oflndonesia New Guinea and most evidence from Europe and PICPUlnprp is comparatively recent

of hominid presence on Sardinia although not solidly is in the

of 300 000 years old but there is a corpus much earlier seafaring in region It is once again incredible that has attracted practically no

so faL It is generally assumed was initiaHy occupied the

via the Bosporus (or or via Russia But is no archaeological evidence in of assumption Lower Palaeuumllithic occupation evidence and hominid remains are to Europe notably peninsula For

IS no Aeheulian in eastern or Europe the that industry are identical in north-western Africa (the Maghreb) and in

beads appear two regions north south

western Mediterranean which ean hardly be a In of the very short distance

to near Gibraltar which was even less at lower sea level (and only a fraction the sea distance Indonesian the same managed to eross) I have proposed to test proposition that was via the of Gibraltar (Bednarik 1999b 200 I b) If it correet Europeans became Europeans

NAVIGAnON capability was apparently first developed one mi1lion years and 800 000 years ago in Southeast possibly as a loeal adaptation to gain aecess to

marine resources Humans entrusted themselves the time to an that nlunpc-n the of nature the capacity a floating and the currents waves and winds at sea event determined the direction human development right up to the time as it

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led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

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amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

M igration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue N umber 10 2002

led to improvements in the ski lIed application of cultural systems to utilise naturaIones Ultimately it resulted in the unsurpassed seafaring skills of modern Polynesians

By about 850 000 BP an adequate number of males and females to establish a new popu lation had travelled to Flores probably from Sumbawa This demands earlier crossings by hominids most likely from Bali via Lombok to Sumbawa although the lesser possibility of migration via Sulawesi still does need to be considered This first geographical and technological Rubicon crossed by the human genus most probably at the Strait of Lombok clearly demanded the use of sophisticated communication most probably in verbal form (speech) or some other suitable mode of language Chronologically it coincides roughly with the introduction of material evidence suggestive of symbolic behaviour (Bednarik 1990 1992 1995a 1998b) which reinforces the not ion of a major cultural watershed at about that time symbolising abilities acquired an archaeologically visible status and can perhaps be assumed to have become a major cuJtural influence

Replicative experiments

WE LACK ANY form of direct physical evidence that would tell us how any of the many Pleistocene seafaring feats were accomplished The obvious source of ethnographic information Australia provides no answers as all watercraft observed there wou Id be unsuitable for lengthy sea journeys (Massola 1971 Jones 1976 1977 1989 Flood 1995) Indeed this raises the question why these nautical skills would have been lost in coastal Australia unless the material used in the ocean-going craft was not readily available there Every commentatOf on the initial settlement of Australia from Birdsell (1957 1977) to the present seems to agree that the most likely craft were bamboo rafts

(eg Thorne 1980 1989) and bamboo occurs only as small pockets of relatively thinshystemmed species in northern Australia (Jones 1989) This may weil explain the absence of large sea-going rafts in Aboriginal Australia

ALTHOUGH we know that humans reached Australia in Middle Palaeolithic times we have in fact no material evidence about any aspect of this first landfaJJ where and when it occurred at what sea level where the sailors originated how many there were what their vessel was Iike how they survived Did they barely manage the trip were they swept out to sea against their intention or were these expeditions weil equipped completing the journey with relative ease Conventional archaeology cannot ever answer any of these questions and if they interest us we need to [md alternative methods to arrive at credible models There are basically two approaches available to uso One is to use a carefully designed program of replicative experiments the other is an intensive study of the technology available to these people from a pragmatic perspective and to integrate such knowledge in practical experiments where possible I have been involved in both ofthese approaches for weil over thirty years replicating stone and bone implements fire making the production of petroglyphs beads and pendants the working of wood bamboo fibres and resins and butchering with stone tools (eg Bednarik 1997a) This has usually included detailed microscopic studies of the resulting objects (eg microwear) byshyproducts or markings In contrast to Semenov (1964) whose pioneer work in this field concerned particularly Upper Palaeolithic technologies I have most frequently focused on what are understood to be Middle and Lower Palaeolithic technologies The most ambitious archaeological replication project I have attempted concerns the earliest sea joumeys

IN PRINCIPLE I perceive two types of

16

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

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Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

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Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

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Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

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Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

amp Val Lrsue NuTtlber 102002

replicative work product-targeted and targeted procedure is the former in which one an archaeologically demonstrated physical result (eg an so as to what has to done in

to known product result of a particular not physical means

by was achieved the approach is necessarily more complex One

by the phenomenon to identifY as many of it as possible and constructs multiple scenarios to account for known quantifiable variables to test cach within a framework of probability greater the number of variables or determinants one manages to

fashion so grcater the most probable

can It is c1ear that both replicative approaches involve uncertainties but these can minimised by rigour and the

is still to one can a demonstrating a more parsimonious explanation either the data available or by providing additional data The problem with approach is that

most most economic and most sensible course of is not necessarily the one by the whose activity remains we examine However in matters to do with survival that not introduce as much uncertainty as perhaps m

involving individual choice

A program dea Iing with questions of Pleistocene is currently under way with the purpose of creating probabil ity scenarios the Pleistocene sea barriers in eastern Mediterranean them Lombok gt800 000 years ago and the Timor Sea gt60 000 years ago A of international expeditions called First Mariners Project was commenced in 1996 It

is engaged in resuit-targeted supplemented possible by

product-targeted replication (Bednarik 1997b 1997d 1999a 1999b 2001b)

A number of are buHt with the help of Palaeolithic stone tool repI icas equipped aftT~ with materials that would have been available to Pleistocene purpose this work is to construct a scientifically (ie testable) probability framework that can generate the most rational

how very early maritime navigation may have been

THE FIRST Pleistocene-style raft built and sailed in modern times was Nale J

3) buHt between 1997 and and dismantled after sea trials

without attempting a sea crossing vessel was 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus and it carried a crew of eleven Constructed as a pontoon raft it was

Lagoon southern on 1998 Only split vines (rattan

Calamus and palm used in lashing 550 bamboo Three rain-proof shelters were constructed from Ionar pahn (Borassus sundicus) the vessel a fITe box over which native

was boiled in palm leaves (haik) Fire was made by drilling softwood with hardwood the carried 170 stone tools on board on Middle Paleolithic For experimental purposes

vessel was with of on masts

DURING SEA in March 1998 the was found to be too heavy and EI

Nifio made a crossing of the Timor Sea to reach Australia unlikely Nale Tasih J was beached destructive and dismantled for components Materials and were both

analysed and this work led to the

17

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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New Ireland northem Melanesia Nature 1 707-709 Allen and Holdaway 1995 contamination of radiocarbon determinations in

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28

Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

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Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

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Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

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Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

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Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

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Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Di[fuJion Val 3 h Jue Number 102002

Figure 3 The Nale Tasih I during sea trials on the Timor Sea 8 March 1998

Figure 4 View of the deck of tbe Nale Tasih 2 approaching Australi~ 28 December 1998

18

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

2002

storms subsided THE FIRST Mariners Project launched its initial attempt to cross from Bali to Lombok on a primitive raft in 1999 soon the journey of Nale Tasih 2 In March an 114 m bamboo was constructed by six local boat builders on a beach at Padangbai using only natural binding materials (split rattan a and

a palm fibre) Oars were fashioned with stone tools from a local softwood (bulalu) and the thwart timbers horn a hardwood (canari) The vessel was equipped with a sunroof woven palm leaves supported by a frame and capable of being manipulated at sea so as to any

westerly Two days after the Nale Tasih 3 was launched on 23 March it was along the Balinese coast to Pula Giliselang at the easternmost point of the island From there we set out to reach the west coast of Lombok a little over 35 away propelled six oarsmen The vessel made excellent progress east initially pcaking at 32 knots but as it entered the deepwater VltUA~ over 1300 m deep here northward drift in a strong current proved effort was made to row against current but after about six hours it became evident that we would inevitably miss the northshywestern corner Lombok The attempt was abandoned under weather

about 15 from the nearest Lombok coast

AT OUR BASE the for

It was planned to construct a very similar a simple bamboo platforrn lacking any provision for

or a sail thus reducing to the realistically simplest possible form thwart timbers tied horizontally

tightly bamboo and raft was propelled by paddlers

fInished weighted ab out 1080 kg was 120 m long and 70 man days

19

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

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Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion Vo 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 5 The Nale Tasih 4 approaches tbe west coast ofLombok after successfully crossing Lombok Strait on 31 January 2000

Figure 6 Construction of a cane pontoon raft on tbe Moroccan coast ofGibraltar Strait 7 October 1999

20

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

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Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

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Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

500 km

~ ~

11 ~

q J ~ ~ ~

~ shy~w

1 ~ ~ ~ ltshy

~

~c

I-lc

~

Figure 7 Map of the Mediterranean indicating the shore Iines at low Pleistocene sea levels and the locations of early sea crossings 1 - Strait of Gibraltar 2 - Sardinia 3 - Kefallinia

4 - Melos 5 - Crete N

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

amp VaL 3 lssue Number 10 2002

to construcL This work was comrnenced on 16 January 2000 and production

wooden paddles with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool

On 31 January 2000 the Nale 4 was Padangbai to the prominent tiny

rock islet Pula Gilibiaha near south of paddlers boarded the raft commenced the marathon continuously all was superb with a consistent peaking at 42 knots and the planned eastern course weil on ce the depth 1000 m the entered waters of choppy condition and waves of 15 m with a distinct curren The currents strength and at the

stationary despite enthusiastic efforts by the crew to overcome it However after continuous paddling for 12

landfall occurred at the western coast Pula a small island off

just under 51 had

this memorable event presumably very first sea

in human history I preparing the next stage the Mariners

the question of early Mediterranean The experimentation in Pleistocene

m region Europe and Africa was undertaken in September and October 1999 on the Moroccan coast the Gibraltar 2000b) A suitably sheltered beach near Ksar Seghir east Tangier was the location chosen for this

the project It involved work with available as whole anima I skins sofiwood cane palm flbre and Two prototype watercraft were assembled and sea-trialled was a pontoon raft made of cane (Fig the other was of inflated animal skins All work was

conducted entirely with stone made chert Lower

Palaeolithic of the Maghreb region The principal fmding of replication study in Morocco was that of inflated animal

have buoyancy but their involves skills were

probably not available to Lower Palaeolithic hominids It is therefore that navigation at that time was in all probability by simple made of cane which still occurs widely around the

THE TWO maritime experiments will eX~lmme how it would have been to cross from Elba to Corsica or Sardinia (joined at low sea and from Andikfthira to

purely technology in late Lower PalaeoIithic period Elba was

joined to the ltalian mainland at sea levels as Andikithira was to the Greek mainland via what is today the Island of Kithira (Fig 7) Preparations for Greek experiment were 2001 and it is expected the m About 6000 phyllostachys were on Kfthera by Albanian labourers in November 200 J and prepared to eure for months It is intended to bind with either a bulrush psathi the fronds of the Washingtonia filifera or split green cane as used in Morocco Local light timbers will provide the frame mthe fashion thwart timbers Perhaps there will be a deck mat

from split cane which can be as a kind of if a useful breeze appeared Primarily the wiH propeHed ten

using paddles carved with Lower Palaeolithic stone tool replicas as we made them before in Indonesia and Morocco

eXJJected to comrnence in May 2002 at a at southern

of Kfthira Onee completed the raft will be to a protected bay at the southshyeastern end Andikithira where it will be attempted to reach Crete

22

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

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McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

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Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

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Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

amp

IT NEEDS to be that I do not that the on which the first

landfalls we are replicating occurred resembled any of the we construct The purpose of the project is to determine mmunum conditions necessary for

ltUfn crossing which essentially means of have to be

when a successful crossing clearly impossible In a logical sense I am not to cross sea barriers I am trying to find out how they cannot be m

same way that operates Therefore experiments themselves are not actual replicas wh ich should be they are merely stones within an overall project artefacts and many tecbnological are or very rgtp so and result should be a elose definition of the conditions under wh ich initial did occur

Until 2004 when work is to be complete it would premature to discuss its results in any detail some fundamental issues can be unreservedly In particular I would take with the that colonisations have been

seafarers no intention their homeland They may

swept out to sea by rivers or up in ocean currents Not so long ago it was even suggested timt humans had drifted to Australia on accumulated vegetation

kinds of scenarios ofthe issues involved all Pleistocene bamboo of modem my most important finding is that Middle Palaeolithic were technologically

more advanced than ever thought

Hundreds cultural skills

Val 3 hsue Number 2002

Handwerker 1989 Bednarik 1990) and forms of knowledge are to construct a raft

adequate size to carry required

supplies Without such a no colonisation was and I that such a craft was not built mere accident Even with required labour effort

expertise venture was beyond the comprehension of

not tried it

austra lopithecines rather like modern humans 36 my ago

1981) while 3 my ago those at Makapansgat probably the staring eyes in a cobble and carried it a long into a cave (Bednarik 1998b) Are we to believe hominids not progress at aJ1 until Late We

to ask why SOme difficult to evolution or cognitive or intellectual prior to the

11lt1 ofFrance

Perhaps being a humanistic and anthropocentric indeed sapiens-centric and

(Straus 1995) rooted in

ontology is uncomfortable with the bioJogical concept that there is no qualitative difference humans and other animals in respect any characteristic Perhaps it seeks to favouring a

modern humans Perhaps

23

Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

24

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

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Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

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Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

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Jol 3 hrue Number 102002

sapiens-centric involves the pn)m1otllCgt1 achievements of ones own expense of another experienced the use of anthropology to serve the Eurocentric scholarly so far-fetcbed to IOnccrpoT

of culture in of course

SEEN IN TffiS nprnp(J

of cu Itura I or relate to the species appropriated species in order to its of history I would argue purpose of archaeology to usurpation of achievements of our predecessors Homo erectus was the rrrptpt

eoJoniser in the phylogenie primates and was the aehiever in a eultural sense It may be unpalatable to those members of our who tend to think we are in Gods own image that Homo sapiens merely added some minor embellisbments to tbe eoneeptual world predecessor had already ereated

Summary

The peopJing proeess of islands began apparently with the crossing of the most important biogeographical barrier in the world the Wallace and with the eolonisations of islands in what is now Indonesia The initial colonisation of N usa Tenggara previously known as the Sunda Islands was aeeomplished by Homo erectus weil before 800 000 years aga (Bednarik 1995e 1997b) is one of the most important discoveries to evolution and yet it attracted almost no interest in the forty years since the relevant evidence fIrst became known

1997d)

FLORES IS separated from Bali by the and Sumbawa both of which

have never been connected to the mainland (Bednarik 1997b) Bali itself was joined to the Asian continent via Java and Sumatra at times

sea and these islands were presumably at such times The entire

is the result recent tectonic uplift of the late Pliocene and the Quaternary

zone where plate under the

Recent dating information that Homo erectus was 181 million years aga

We do not know when

years ago

have had a full

are not

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Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aikens C M and 1982 Prehistory ofJapan Academic New York Allen J Gosden Jones R and White J P 1988 dates human occupation

New Ireland northem Melanesia Nature 1 707-709 Allen and Holdaway 1995 contamination of radiocarbon determinations in

Australia Antiquity 69 101 112 Anderson A 1987 developments in Japanese prehistory a review Antiquity 61 270-81 Amold B 1966 Pirogues monoxyles dEurope centrale Neuchaumltel

H 1998 Physical adaptation the Minatogawa people to island 1-

Ryukyu lsland~ Symposium pp S and Kallupa B 1 1 On the dispersion of Homo In

eastern Indonesia the Palaeolithic of South SuJawesi Current Anthropology 31 Bednarik R G 1 On the cognitive deveJopment ofhominids Man andEnvironment 15 1-7 Bednarik G 199091 Epistemology in palaeoart Origini 15 57-78

R 1992 and archaeological Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2 27-43

Bednarik R G 1995a Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 605-634

Bednarik G 1995b Untertag-Bergbau im Quartaumlr 4546 161-175 Bednarik R G 1995c Homo erectus The ArtefacI 1891 Bednarik R G 1995d MetamorphoJogy in lieu of uniformitarianism Oxford Journal of

Archaeology J4 I I Bednarik R 1997a of Pleistocene beads in documenting hominid cognition Rock Art

Research 14 27-41 Bednarik R G 1997b The origins of and language The Artefael 20 16-56 Bednarik R G 1997c The evidence of ocean International Journal ofNautieal

Arehaeology 183-191 Bednarik R G 1997d The initial peopling Wallacea and Sahu1 Anthropos 92 355-367

R 1998a An In ~nprp seafaring International Journal Nautieal Arehaeology

Bednarik R G 1998b The australopithecine cobble South South African Archaeological Bulletin 53 3-8

Bednarik R G 1999a Maritime navigation in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 328

R 1 Pleistocene seafaring in the Anthropologie 37(3) Bednarik R G 2000a Pleistocene Timor some corrections Australian 51 16-20 Bednarik R G 2000b The origins of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial

experimentation Journal oflberian Archaeology 3 ] 1-23 Bednarik R G 2001 a An AcheuHan figurine from Morocco Rock Art Research 18 115-6

R G 2001 b The of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial replicative experimentation Journal 3 11-23

Bednarik R G and M 1999 Nale Tasih Eine Floszligfahrt in die Steinzeit Stuttgart

28

Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

Belitzky S Goren-Inbar N and Werker E 1991 AMiddIe Pleistocene wooden plank with manshymade polish Journal ofHuman Evolution 20 349-353

Bellwood P 1996 A 32000 year archaeological record from the Moluccas Abstract The environmental and cultural his tory and dynamtcs of the AustraUan - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environmental Science Monash University Melbourne

Bini C Martini F Pitzalis G and Ulzega A 1993 Sa Coa de Sa Multa e Sa Pedrosa Pantallinu due Paleosuperfici clactoniane in Sardegna Alti della XXX Riunione Scientifica Paleosuperjici dei Pleistocene edel primo Olicene in ItaUa Processi si Formazione e Interpretazione Venosa ed Isernia 26-29 oltobre 1991 Istituto ltaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria Firenze pp 179-197

Birdsell ] B 1957 Some population problems involving Pleistocene man Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology 122 47-69

Birdsell ] B 1977 The recalibration of a paradigm for the first peopling of greater Australia In ] Allen J Golson and R ]ones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 113-167

Chase P G and Dibble H L 1987 Middle Paleolithic symbolism a review of current evidence and interpretations Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 6 263-296

Clark G 1971 Excavations at Star Carr Cambridge University Press Cambridge Copeland L 1978 The Middle Palaeolithic of Aldun and Ras el Kelb (Lebanon) first results from a

study ofthe flint industry Paleorient 4 33-37 Davidson 1 and Noble W 1989 The archaeology of perception Traces of depiction and language

Current Anthropology 30 125-155 dErrico F 1994 Birds of Cosquer Cave The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) and its significance

du ring the Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art Research 11 45-57 dErrico F Gaillard c and Misra V N 1989 Collection of non-utilitarian objects by Homo

erectus in India Hominidae Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Human Paleontology Editoriale ]aca Book Milan pp 237-239

Diamond 1 M 1977 Distributional strategies In 1 Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistortc studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 295-316

Ehrat H 1925 Geologische Mijnbouwkundige onderzoekingen op Flores Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in N 0 1 Verhandelingen 2 208-226

Ellmers D 1980 Ein Fellboot-Fragment der Ahrensburger Kultur aus Husum Schleswig-Hoistein Offa 37

Facchini F and G Giusberti 1992 Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island ofCrete In G Braumluer and F H Smith (eds) Continuity and replacement pp 189-208 RotterdamIBrookfield A A Balkena

Flood ] 1995 Archaeology ofthe Dreamtime Angus and Robertson Sydney Fullagar R L K Price D M and Head L M 1996 Early human occupation of northern

Australia archaeology and thermoluminescence dating of Jinmium rock-shelter Northern Territory Antiquity 70 751-773

Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

29

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

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Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

ever to have colonised islands by swimrning Not only did Homo erectus reach Flores and thus presumably occupy Lombok and Sumbawa first the author has found his stone tools also on Timor and Roti two islands further south-east and there are unconfIrmed reports that such tools mayaiso occur on Sulawesi (Van den Bergh 1997 309) This implies that navigation was not a rare occurrence during the Pleistocene but that seafaring technology was being developed in the archipelago for hundreds of thousands of years Indeed this technology eventuaJly culminated in what must be considered to be the greatest technological achievement of humanity the crossing of the open sea to a continent that for most of the journey remained invisible the fIrst landfall in Australia In all cases of sea crossings before the peopling of Australia we assurne that the opposite landrnass was visible at any Pleistocene sea level This was not the case for the fmal crossing to Australia perhaps 60 000 years ago This demonstration of human courage and technological competence was accomplished by a people with aMiddie Palaeolithic technology This alone refutes the claims by African Eve advocates that modem behaviour appears only with the Upper Palaeolithic It is generally agreed even by the most extreme protagonists of the Eve scenario that seafaring especiaJly when used to colonise new land presupposes the existence of language presumably in the form of speech (Noble and Davidson 1996) On that basis alone language is at least a million years old Language is a form of symbolism and we have other evidence for symbolic expression wh ich seems to begin around 800 000 years ago Many archaeologists seem unaware that the use of pigment and beads petroglyphs engravings on portable items and skilIed working of wood all begin in the Lower Palaeolithic and not as frequently c1aimed in the Upper Palaeolithic (Bednarik 1992 1995a 1997d)

SEAF ARING was widely practised during the Pleistocene especially in the region of Indonesia and AustraJia but also elsewhere in the world The effects of fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels are a massive taphonomic factor preventing direct evidence of this technology from being recovered In fact the earliest direct physical evidence of navigation is all from western Europe and all of it dates from the early Holocene (Bednarik 1997 c) It has been argued by archaeologists that Pleistocene sea crossings may have been accidental rather than planned Such views are voiced by scholars who have neither examined the topic of early maritime technologies nor have they attempted or considered replicative experiments The author has been engaged in replicative archaeology for about thirty years Since we lack any physical remains of Pleistocene navigation equipment any understanding of the period s maritime technology however specuJative can only be acquired through replicative experiments The available knowledge from other areas of technology of the periods in question for instance in wood and bone working serves as a reference source for such work (Bednarik 1997b) Some aspects of relevant material use can be precisely replicated on the basis of archaeological fmds as for instance bone harpoons Others must be determined according to systematically derived probability estimates based on experimentation In the case of Pleistocene seafaring this involves a great deal of data gathering and can lead to experimentation on a massive scale

IN 1996 BEGAN aseries of expeditions to test hypotheses about how as many as twenty sea barriers were breached by Pleistocene seafarers Literally hundreds of issues of technology need to be addressed including the means of carrying freshwater of fishing at sea of locating sources of stone tool

25

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aikens C M and 1982 Prehistory ofJapan Academic New York Allen J Gosden Jones R and White J P 1988 dates human occupation

New Ireland northem Melanesia Nature 1 707-709 Allen and Holdaway 1995 contamination of radiocarbon determinations in

Australia Antiquity 69 101 112 Anderson A 1987 developments in Japanese prehistory a review Antiquity 61 270-81 Amold B 1966 Pirogues monoxyles dEurope centrale Neuchaumltel

H 1998 Physical adaptation the Minatogawa people to island 1-

Ryukyu lsland~ Symposium pp S and Kallupa B 1 1 On the dispersion of Homo In

eastern Indonesia the Palaeolithic of South SuJawesi Current Anthropology 31 Bednarik R G 1 On the cognitive deveJopment ofhominids Man andEnvironment 15 1-7 Bednarik G 199091 Epistemology in palaeoart Origini 15 57-78

R 1992 and archaeological Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2 27-43

Bednarik R G 1995a Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 605-634

Bednarik G 1995b Untertag-Bergbau im Quartaumlr 4546 161-175 Bednarik R G 1995c Homo erectus The ArtefacI 1891 Bednarik R G 1995d MetamorphoJogy in lieu of uniformitarianism Oxford Journal of

Archaeology J4 I I Bednarik R 1997a of Pleistocene beads in documenting hominid cognition Rock Art

Research 14 27-41 Bednarik R G 1997b The origins of and language The Artefael 20 16-56 Bednarik R G 1997c The evidence of ocean International Journal ofNautieal

Arehaeology 183-191 Bednarik R G 1997d The initial peopling Wallacea and Sahu1 Anthropos 92 355-367

R 1998a An In ~nprp seafaring International Journal Nautieal Arehaeology

Bednarik R G 1998b The australopithecine cobble South South African Archaeological Bulletin 53 3-8

Bednarik R G 1999a Maritime navigation in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 328

R 1 Pleistocene seafaring in the Anthropologie 37(3) Bednarik R G 2000a Pleistocene Timor some corrections Australian 51 16-20 Bednarik R G 2000b The origins of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial

experimentation Journal oflberian Archaeology 3 ] 1-23 Bednarik R G 2001 a An AcheuHan figurine from Morocco Rock Art Research 18 115-6

R G 2001 b The of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial replicative experimentation Journal 3 11-23

Bednarik R G and M 1999 Nale Tasih Eine Floszligfahrt in die Steinzeit Stuttgart

28

Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

Belitzky S Goren-Inbar N and Werker E 1991 AMiddIe Pleistocene wooden plank with manshymade polish Journal ofHuman Evolution 20 349-353

Bellwood P 1996 A 32000 year archaeological record from the Moluccas Abstract The environmental and cultural his tory and dynamtcs of the AustraUan - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environmental Science Monash University Melbourne

Bini C Martini F Pitzalis G and Ulzega A 1993 Sa Coa de Sa Multa e Sa Pedrosa Pantallinu due Paleosuperfici clactoniane in Sardegna Alti della XXX Riunione Scientifica Paleosuperjici dei Pleistocene edel primo Olicene in ItaUa Processi si Formazione e Interpretazione Venosa ed Isernia 26-29 oltobre 1991 Istituto ltaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria Firenze pp 179-197

Birdsell ] B 1957 Some population problems involving Pleistocene man Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology 122 47-69

Birdsell ] B 1977 The recalibration of a paradigm for the first peopling of greater Australia In ] Allen J Golson and R ]ones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 113-167

Chase P G and Dibble H L 1987 Middle Paleolithic symbolism a review of current evidence and interpretations Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 6 263-296

Clark G 1971 Excavations at Star Carr Cambridge University Press Cambridge Copeland L 1978 The Middle Palaeolithic of Aldun and Ras el Kelb (Lebanon) first results from a

study ofthe flint industry Paleorient 4 33-37 Davidson 1 and Noble W 1989 The archaeology of perception Traces of depiction and language

Current Anthropology 30 125-155 dErrico F 1994 Birds of Cosquer Cave The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) and its significance

du ring the Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art Research 11 45-57 dErrico F Gaillard c and Misra V N 1989 Collection of non-utilitarian objects by Homo

erectus in India Hominidae Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Human Paleontology Editoriale ]aca Book Milan pp 237-239

Diamond 1 M 1977 Distributional strategies In 1 Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistortc studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 295-316

Ehrat H 1925 Geologische Mijnbouwkundige onderzoekingen op Flores Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in N 0 1 Verhandelingen 2 208-226

Ellmers D 1980 Ein Fellboot-Fragment der Ahrensburger Kultur aus Husum Schleswig-Hoistein Offa 37

Facchini F and G Giusberti 1992 Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island ofCrete In G Braumluer and F H Smith (eds) Continuity and replacement pp 189-208 RotterdamIBrookfield A A Balkena

Flood ] 1995 Archaeology ofthe Dreamtime Angus and Robertson Sydney Fullagar R L K Price D M and Head L M 1996 Early human occupation of northern

Australia archaeology and thermoluminescence dating of Jinmium rock-shelter Northern Territory Antiquity 70 751-773

Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

29

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Figure 8 Tbc autbor on the Nale Tasih 2 20 December 1998

26

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

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Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

Belitzky S Goren-Inbar N and Werker E 1991 AMiddIe Pleistocene wooden plank with manshymade polish Journal ofHuman Evolution 20 349-353

Bellwood P 1996 A 32000 year archaeological record from the Moluccas Abstract The environmental and cultural his tory and dynamtcs of the AustraUan - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environmental Science Monash University Melbourne

Bini C Martini F Pitzalis G and Ulzega A 1993 Sa Coa de Sa Multa e Sa Pedrosa Pantallinu due Paleosuperfici clactoniane in Sardegna Alti della XXX Riunione Scientifica Paleosuperjici dei Pleistocene edel primo Olicene in ItaUa Processi si Formazione e Interpretazione Venosa ed Isernia 26-29 oltobre 1991 Istituto ltaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria Firenze pp 179-197

Birdsell ] B 1957 Some population problems involving Pleistocene man Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology 122 47-69

Birdsell ] B 1977 The recalibration of a paradigm for the first peopling of greater Australia In ] Allen J Golson and R ]ones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 113-167

Chase P G and Dibble H L 1987 Middle Paleolithic symbolism a review of current evidence and interpretations Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 6 263-296

Clark G 1971 Excavations at Star Carr Cambridge University Press Cambridge Copeland L 1978 The Middle Palaeolithic of Aldun and Ras el Kelb (Lebanon) first results from a

study ofthe flint industry Paleorient 4 33-37 Davidson 1 and Noble W 1989 The archaeology of perception Traces of depiction and language

Current Anthropology 30 125-155 dErrico F 1994 Birds of Cosquer Cave The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) and its significance

du ring the Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art Research 11 45-57 dErrico F Gaillard c and Misra V N 1989 Collection of non-utilitarian objects by Homo

erectus in India Hominidae Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Human Paleontology Editoriale ]aca Book Milan pp 237-239

Diamond 1 M 1977 Distributional strategies In 1 Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistortc studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 295-316

Ehrat H 1925 Geologische Mijnbouwkundige onderzoekingen op Flores Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in N 0 1 Verhandelingen 2 208-226

Ellmers D 1980 Ein Fellboot-Fragment der Ahrensburger Kultur aus Husum Schleswig-Hoistein Offa 37

Facchini F and G Giusberti 1992 Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island ofCrete In G Braumluer and F H Smith (eds) Continuity and replacement pp 189-208 RotterdamIBrookfield A A Balkena

Flood ] 1995 Archaeology ofthe Dreamtime Angus and Robertson Sydney Fullagar R L K Price D M and Head L M 1996 Early human occupation of northern

Australia archaeology and thermoluminescence dating of Jinmium rock-shelter Northern Territory Antiquity 70 751-773

Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

29

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration eY DiffitJion Val 3 IJJue Number 10 2002

erials aIld-of-eomse-Issues-ofrnaritirne designshy(Bednarik 1997b 1997c 1997d 1998a 1999a 1999b 2000b) The understanding of Pleistocene technology to be acquired in tltis way by far exceeds the understanding accessible by traditional archaeological approaches Replicative tools for instance can be subjected to microwear studies and the practical application of tool replicas tells us more about their use than any amount of theorising ever could The author ofthis paper is responsible for authenticity and for the collection of all scientific data on all these expeditions The fcrst full-size experimental vessel was commenced in August 1997 and launched in southern Roti in early 1998 lt was the Nale Tasih 1 which on 6 March sailed with a crew of eleven for sea trials It was built as aMiddie Palaeolithic oceanshygoing bamboo raft 23 m long and about 15 tonnes plus cargo In December 1998 the Nale Tasih 2 a primitive bamboo raft successfully crossed from the southern tip of Timor to Melville Island off Darwin under dramatic conditions taking thirteen days (Fig 8) The first attempt to cross Lombok Strait failed in March 1999 but in January 2000 a simple bamboo platform without sail or steering crossed from Bali to Lombok with a crew of twelve men Since then I have built two rafts entirely with stone tools on the Moroccan coast in preparation for testing issues of Mediterranean Pleistocene seafaring The next experiments are also taking place in the Mediterranean

TO SUGGEST as archaeologists have that Pleistocene seafaring was accidental or not pre-meditated illustrates the lack of understanding the human past that is so widespread in archaeology The only sea crossings we can possibly know about are

these that-resulted in successfnlcolonisations capable of becoming visible on the very coarse and heavily distorted archaeoIGgiea record There may have been several unsuccessful colonisation attempts for every successful instance To achieve such crossings it was necessary to bring a group of sufficient numbers of males and females to found new populations in each and every case we can document This required adequate vessels to carry these people their supplies and equipment To suggest that such vessels were built without a quite deliberate plan and that an adequate number of people was in each case swept out to sea on them against their will is not just iIlogical it is symptomatic of a discipline that treats hominids as culturally technologically and cognitively inferior much in the same way Europeans in the past treated indigenous peoples wherever they found them These kinds of arguments which permeate so much of Pleistocene archaeology indicate a lack of knowledge about the practical aspects of the human past One is in no position to judge or comment upon the circumstances of the formation of what is quaintly cal1ed the archaeological record without first having acquired the understanding that comes from practical experimentation with the materials in question and under the circumstances quest ion and without having a good understanding of metamorphological processes and biases (Bednarik 1995d) To illustrate with the example at hand the author rejects any comment by an alleged expert of the human past about Pleistocene seafaring unless that person has tried seafaring under Palaeolithic conditions No-one who has not done this can have any idea of the knowledge competence enterprise and courage such a feat actually involves

27

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aikens C M and 1982 Prehistory ofJapan Academic New York Allen J Gosden Jones R and White J P 1988 dates human occupation

New Ireland northem Melanesia Nature 1 707-709 Allen and Holdaway 1995 contamination of radiocarbon determinations in

Australia Antiquity 69 101 112 Anderson A 1987 developments in Japanese prehistory a review Antiquity 61 270-81 Amold B 1966 Pirogues monoxyles dEurope centrale Neuchaumltel

H 1998 Physical adaptation the Minatogawa people to island 1-

Ryukyu lsland~ Symposium pp S and Kallupa B 1 1 On the dispersion of Homo In

eastern Indonesia the Palaeolithic of South SuJawesi Current Anthropology 31 Bednarik R G 1 On the cognitive deveJopment ofhominids Man andEnvironment 15 1-7 Bednarik G 199091 Epistemology in palaeoart Origini 15 57-78

R 1992 and archaeological Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2 27-43

Bednarik R G 1995a Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 605-634

Bednarik G 1995b Untertag-Bergbau im Quartaumlr 4546 161-175 Bednarik R G 1995c Homo erectus The ArtefacI 1891 Bednarik R G 1995d MetamorphoJogy in lieu of uniformitarianism Oxford Journal of

Archaeology J4 I I Bednarik R 1997a of Pleistocene beads in documenting hominid cognition Rock Art

Research 14 27-41 Bednarik R G 1997b The origins of and language The Artefael 20 16-56 Bednarik R G 1997c The evidence of ocean International Journal ofNautieal

Arehaeology 183-191 Bednarik R G 1997d The initial peopling Wallacea and Sahu1 Anthropos 92 355-367

R 1998a An In ~nprp seafaring International Journal Nautieal Arehaeology

Bednarik R G 1998b The australopithecine cobble South South African Archaeological Bulletin 53 3-8

Bednarik R G 1999a Maritime navigation in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 328

R 1 Pleistocene seafaring in the Anthropologie 37(3) Bednarik R G 2000a Pleistocene Timor some corrections Australian 51 16-20 Bednarik R G 2000b The origins of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial

experimentation Journal oflberian Archaeology 3 ] 1-23 Bednarik R G 2001 a An AcheuHan figurine from Morocco Rock Art Research 18 115-6

R G 2001 b The of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial replicative experimentation Journal 3 11-23

Bednarik R G and M 1999 Nale Tasih Eine Floszligfahrt in die Steinzeit Stuttgart

28

Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

Belitzky S Goren-Inbar N and Werker E 1991 AMiddIe Pleistocene wooden plank with manshymade polish Journal ofHuman Evolution 20 349-353

Bellwood P 1996 A 32000 year archaeological record from the Moluccas Abstract The environmental and cultural his tory and dynamtcs of the AustraUan - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environmental Science Monash University Melbourne

Bini C Martini F Pitzalis G and Ulzega A 1993 Sa Coa de Sa Multa e Sa Pedrosa Pantallinu due Paleosuperfici clactoniane in Sardegna Alti della XXX Riunione Scientifica Paleosuperjici dei Pleistocene edel primo Olicene in ItaUa Processi si Formazione e Interpretazione Venosa ed Isernia 26-29 oltobre 1991 Istituto ltaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria Firenze pp 179-197

Birdsell ] B 1957 Some population problems involving Pleistocene man Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology 122 47-69

Birdsell ] B 1977 The recalibration of a paradigm for the first peopling of greater Australia In ] Allen J Golson and R ]ones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 113-167

Chase P G and Dibble H L 1987 Middle Paleolithic symbolism a review of current evidence and interpretations Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 6 263-296

Clark G 1971 Excavations at Star Carr Cambridge University Press Cambridge Copeland L 1978 The Middle Palaeolithic of Aldun and Ras el Kelb (Lebanon) first results from a

study ofthe flint industry Paleorient 4 33-37 Davidson 1 and Noble W 1989 The archaeology of perception Traces of depiction and language

Current Anthropology 30 125-155 dErrico F 1994 Birds of Cosquer Cave The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) and its significance

du ring the Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art Research 11 45-57 dErrico F Gaillard c and Misra V N 1989 Collection of non-utilitarian objects by Homo

erectus in India Hominidae Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Human Paleontology Editoriale ]aca Book Milan pp 237-239

Diamond 1 M 1977 Distributional strategies In 1 Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistortc studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 295-316

Ehrat H 1925 Geologische Mijnbouwkundige onderzoekingen op Flores Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in N 0 1 Verhandelingen 2 208-226

Ellmers D 1980 Ein Fellboot-Fragment der Ahrensburger Kultur aus Husum Schleswig-Hoistein Offa 37

Facchini F and G Giusberti 1992 Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island ofCrete In G Braumluer and F H Smith (eds) Continuity and replacement pp 189-208 RotterdamIBrookfield A A Balkena

Flood ] 1995 Archaeology ofthe Dreamtime Angus and Robertson Sydney Fullagar R L K Price D M and Head L M 1996 Early human occupation of northern

Australia archaeology and thermoluminescence dating of Jinmium rock-shelter Northern Territory Antiquity 70 751-773

Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

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Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

amp VoL 3 LrJUe NUfllber 10 2002

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aikens C M and 1982 Prehistory ofJapan Academic New York Allen J Gosden Jones R and White J P 1988 dates human occupation

New Ireland northem Melanesia Nature 1 707-709 Allen and Holdaway 1995 contamination of radiocarbon determinations in

Australia Antiquity 69 101 112 Anderson A 1987 developments in Japanese prehistory a review Antiquity 61 270-81 Amold B 1966 Pirogues monoxyles dEurope centrale Neuchaumltel

H 1998 Physical adaptation the Minatogawa people to island 1-

Ryukyu lsland~ Symposium pp S and Kallupa B 1 1 On the dispersion of Homo In

eastern Indonesia the Palaeolithic of South SuJawesi Current Anthropology 31 Bednarik R G 1 On the cognitive deveJopment ofhominids Man andEnvironment 15 1-7 Bednarik G 199091 Epistemology in palaeoart Origini 15 57-78

R 1992 and archaeological Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2 27-43

Bednarik R G 1995a Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 605-634

Bednarik G 1995b Untertag-Bergbau im Quartaumlr 4546 161-175 Bednarik R G 1995c Homo erectus The ArtefacI 1891 Bednarik R G 1995d MetamorphoJogy in lieu of uniformitarianism Oxford Journal of

Archaeology J4 I I Bednarik R 1997a of Pleistocene beads in documenting hominid cognition Rock Art

Research 14 27-41 Bednarik R G 1997b The origins of and language The Artefael 20 16-56 Bednarik R G 1997c The evidence of ocean International Journal ofNautieal

Arehaeology 183-191 Bednarik R G 1997d The initial peopling Wallacea and Sahu1 Anthropos 92 355-367

R 1998a An In ~nprp seafaring International Journal Nautieal Arehaeology

Bednarik R G 1998b The australopithecine cobble South South African Archaeological Bulletin 53 3-8

Bednarik R G 1999a Maritime navigation in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 328

R 1 Pleistocene seafaring in the Anthropologie 37(3) Bednarik R G 2000a Pleistocene Timor some corrections Australian 51 16-20 Bednarik R G 2000b The origins of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial

experimentation Journal oflberian Archaeology 3 ] 1-23 Bednarik R G 2001 a An AcheuHan figurine from Morocco Rock Art Research 18 115-6

R G 2001 b The of Pleistocene navigation in the Mediterranean initial replicative experimentation Journal 3 11-23

Bednarik R G and M 1999 Nale Tasih Eine Floszligfahrt in die Steinzeit Stuttgart

28

Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

Belitzky S Goren-Inbar N and Werker E 1991 AMiddIe Pleistocene wooden plank with manshymade polish Journal ofHuman Evolution 20 349-353

Bellwood P 1996 A 32000 year archaeological record from the Moluccas Abstract The environmental and cultural his tory and dynamtcs of the AustraUan - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environmental Science Monash University Melbourne

Bini C Martini F Pitzalis G and Ulzega A 1993 Sa Coa de Sa Multa e Sa Pedrosa Pantallinu due Paleosuperfici clactoniane in Sardegna Alti della XXX Riunione Scientifica Paleosuperjici dei Pleistocene edel primo Olicene in ItaUa Processi si Formazione e Interpretazione Venosa ed Isernia 26-29 oltobre 1991 Istituto ltaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria Firenze pp 179-197

Birdsell ] B 1957 Some population problems involving Pleistocene man Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology 122 47-69

Birdsell ] B 1977 The recalibration of a paradigm for the first peopling of greater Australia In ] Allen J Golson and R ]ones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 113-167

Chase P G and Dibble H L 1987 Middle Paleolithic symbolism a review of current evidence and interpretations Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 6 263-296

Clark G 1971 Excavations at Star Carr Cambridge University Press Cambridge Copeland L 1978 The Middle Palaeolithic of Aldun and Ras el Kelb (Lebanon) first results from a

study ofthe flint industry Paleorient 4 33-37 Davidson 1 and Noble W 1989 The archaeology of perception Traces of depiction and language

Current Anthropology 30 125-155 dErrico F 1994 Birds of Cosquer Cave The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) and its significance

du ring the Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art Research 11 45-57 dErrico F Gaillard c and Misra V N 1989 Collection of non-utilitarian objects by Homo

erectus in India Hominidae Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Human Paleontology Editoriale ]aca Book Milan pp 237-239

Diamond 1 M 1977 Distributional strategies In 1 Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistortc studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 295-316

Ehrat H 1925 Geologische Mijnbouwkundige onderzoekingen op Flores Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in N 0 1 Verhandelingen 2 208-226

Ellmers D 1980 Ein Fellboot-Fragment der Ahrensburger Kultur aus Husum Schleswig-Hoistein Offa 37

Facchini F and G Giusberti 1992 Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island ofCrete In G Braumluer and F H Smith (eds) Continuity and replacement pp 189-208 RotterdamIBrookfield A A Balkena

Flood ] 1995 Archaeology ofthe Dreamtime Angus and Robertson Sydney Fullagar R L K Price D M and Head L M 1996 Early human occupation of northern

Australia archaeology and thermoluminescence dating of Jinmium rock-shelter Northern Territory Antiquity 70 751-773

Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

29

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion V ol 3 Issue Number 102002

Belitzky S Goren-Inbar N and Werker E 1991 AMiddIe Pleistocene wooden plank with manshymade polish Journal ofHuman Evolution 20 349-353

Bellwood P 1996 A 32000 year archaeological record from the Moluccas Abstract The environmental and cultural his tory and dynamtcs of the AustraUan - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environmental Science Monash University Melbourne

Bini C Martini F Pitzalis G and Ulzega A 1993 Sa Coa de Sa Multa e Sa Pedrosa Pantallinu due Paleosuperfici clactoniane in Sardegna Alti della XXX Riunione Scientifica Paleosuperjici dei Pleistocene edel primo Olicene in ItaUa Processi si Formazione e Interpretazione Venosa ed Isernia 26-29 oltobre 1991 Istituto ltaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria Firenze pp 179-197

Birdsell ] B 1957 Some population problems involving Pleistocene man Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology 122 47-69

Birdsell ] B 1977 The recalibration of a paradigm for the first peopling of greater Australia In ] Allen J Golson and R ]ones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 113-167

Chase P G and Dibble H L 1987 Middle Paleolithic symbolism a review of current evidence and interpretations Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 6 263-296

Clark G 1971 Excavations at Star Carr Cambridge University Press Cambridge Copeland L 1978 The Middle Palaeolithic of Aldun and Ras el Kelb (Lebanon) first results from a

study ofthe flint industry Paleorient 4 33-37 Davidson 1 and Noble W 1989 The archaeology of perception Traces of depiction and language

Current Anthropology 30 125-155 dErrico F 1994 Birds of Cosquer Cave The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) and its significance

du ring the Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art Research 11 45-57 dErrico F Gaillard c and Misra V N 1989 Collection of non-utilitarian objects by Homo

erectus in India Hominidae Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Human Paleontology Editoriale ]aca Book Milan pp 237-239

Diamond 1 M 1977 Distributional strategies In 1 Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistortc studies in South-East Asta Melanesia and AustraUa Academic Press London pp 295-316

Ehrat H 1925 Geologische Mijnbouwkundige onderzoekingen op Flores Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in N 0 1 Verhandelingen 2 208-226

Ellmers D 1980 Ein Fellboot-Fragment der Ahrensburger Kultur aus Husum Schleswig-Hoistein Offa 37

Facchini F and G Giusberti 1992 Homo sapiens sapiens remains from the island ofCrete In G Braumluer and F H Smith (eds) Continuity and replacement pp 189-208 RotterdamIBrookfield A A Balkena

Flood ] 1995 Archaeology ofthe Dreamtime Angus and Robertson Sydney Fullagar R L K Price D M and Head L M 1996 Early human occupation of northern

Australia archaeology and thermoluminescence dating of Jinmium rock-shelter Northern Territory Antiquity 70 751-773

Garrod 0 and Kirkbridge D 1961 Excavation of the Abri Zumoffen a Paleolithic rock-shelter near Aldun South Lebanon Bulletin Musee Beyrouth 16 7-48

Glover 1 C 1969 Radiocarbon dates from Portuguese Timor Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 4 107-112

Glover 1 c and Glover E A 1970 Pleistocene flaked stone tools from Flores and Timor Manktnd7(3) 188-190

29

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion VoL 3 ISJue Number 10 2002

Goren-Inbar N 1986 A figurine from the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram Mi Tekufat Ha Even 19 7-12

Groves C P 1976 The origin of the mammalian flora of Sulawesi (Celebes) Zeitschrift fuumlr Saumlugetierkunde 41 201-216

Handwerker W P 1989 The origins and evolution of cu Iture American Anthropologist 91 313shy326

Hantoro W S 1996 Last Quaternary sea level variations deduced from uplift coral reefs terraces in lndonesia Paper presented to the conference The environmental and cultural history and dynamics of the Australian - Southeast Asian region Department of Geography and Environshymental Science Monash University

Hartono H M S 1961 Geological investigation at Olabula Djawatan Geologi Bandung Heekeren H R van 1957 The Stone Age oflndonesia Martinus Nijhoff s-Gravenhage Hooijer D A 1957 Astegodon from Flores Treubia 24 119-129 Hours F 1982 Une nouvelle industrie en Syrie entre IAcheuleen superieur et le Levalloisoshy

Mousterien archeologie au Levant CMO 12 Archeologie 9 33-46 Howell F C 1966 Observations on the earlier phases ofthe European Lower Paleolithic American

Anthropologist 68 88-201 Ikawa-Smith F 1986 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene technologies In R J Pearson G L

Bames and K L Hutterer (eds) Windows on the Japanese past studies in archaeology and prehistory pp 163-198 Center for Japanese Studies Ann Arbor

Jacob-Friesen K H 1956 Eiszeitliche Elefantenjaumlger in der Luumlneburger Heide Jahrbuch des Roumlmisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 3 1-22

Johnson D L 1980 Problems in the land vertebrate zoogeography of certain islands and the swimming powers of elephants Journal ofBiogeography 7 383-398

Jones R 1976 Tasmania aquatic machines and offshore islands In G de Sieveking (ed) Problems in economic and social anthropology Duckworth London pp 235-263

Jones R 1977 Man as an element of a continental fauna the case of the sundering of the Bassian bridge In J Allen 1 Golson and R Jones (eds) Sunda and Sahul prehistoric studies in Southeast Asia Melanesia and Australia Academic Press London pp 317-386

Jones R 1989 East of WaJlaces Line issues and problems in the colonisation of the Australian continent In P MelJars and C Stringer (eds) The human revolution Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh pp 743-782

Kavvadias G 1984 Palaiolithiki Kephalonia 0 politismos tou Phiskardhou Athens Koenigswald G H R von 1949 Vertebrate stratigraphy In The geology oflndonesia edited by R

W van Bemmelen Government Printing Office The Hague pp 91-93 Koenigswald G H R von and Gosh A K 1973 Stone implements from the Trinil Beds of

Sangiran central Java Koninklijk Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen Proc Sero B 76(1) 1-34

Leakey M D 1981 Tracks and tools Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society ofLondon B292 95-102

Lourandos H 1997 Continent of hunter-gatherers new perspectives in Australian prehistory Cambridge University Press Cambridge

McGrail S 1987 Ancient boats in NW Europe Longman Harlow McGrail S 1991 Early sea voyageslnternational Journal ofNautical Archaeology 20(2) 85-93 Maringer J 1978 Ein palaumlolithischer Schaber aus gelbgeaumldertem schwarzem Opal (Flores

Indonesien) Anthropos 73 597 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970a Die Steinartefakte aus der Stegodon-Fossilschicht von

30

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion V al 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Mengeruda auf Flores fndonesien Anthropos 65 229-247 Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970b Note on some stone artifacts in the National Archaeological

Institute of lndonesia at Djakarta collected from the stegodon-fossil bed at Boaleza in Flores Anthropos 65 638-639

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1970c Die Oberflaumlchenfunde aus dem Fossilgebiet von Mengeruda und Olabula auf Flores lndonesien Anthropos 65 530-546

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1972 Steingeraumlte aus dem Waiklau-Trockenbett bei Maumere auf Flores lndonesien Eine Patjitanian-artige Industrie auf der Insel Flores Anthropos 67 129-137

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1975 Die Oberflaumlchenfunde von Marokoak auf Flores fndonesien Ein weiterer altpalaumlolithischer Fundkomplex von Flores Anthropos 70 97-104

Maringer J and Verhoeven T 1977 Ein palaumlolithischer Houmlhlenfundplatz auf der Insel Flores Indonesien Anthropos 72 256-273

Martini F 1992 Eary human settlements in Sardinia the Palaeolithic industries In R H Tykot and T K Andrews (eds) Sardinia in the Mediterranean a footprint in the sea Studies in Sardinian archaeology presented to Miriam S Balmuth pp 40-48 Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield

Massola A 1971 The Aborigenes of south-eastern Australia as they were William Heinemann Aust Melbourne

Morwood M J OSullivan P B Aziz F and Raza A 1998 Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east lndonesian island ofFlores Nature 392 173-179

Morwood M J F Aziz Nasruddin D R Hobbs P OSullivan and A Raza 1999 Archaeological and palaeonto logica I research in central Flores east lndonesia results of fieldwork 1997-98 Antiquity 73 273-286

Noble W and I Davidson 1993 Tracing the emergence of modern human behavior Methodological pitfalls and a theoretical path Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 12 121shy149

Noble W and Davidson r 1996 Human evolution language and mind Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Perl es C 1979 Des navigateurs mooiterraneens il y a 10000 ans La Recherche 96 82-83 Renfrew C and AspinalI A 1990 Aegean obsidian and Franchthi Cave In C Peres (ed) Les

industries lithiques taillees de Franchthi (Argolide Grece) Tome 2 Les industries lithiques du Mesolithique et du Neolithique initial Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis pp 257-270

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1990 Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000 year-old human occupation site in northern Australia Nature 345 153-156

Roberts R G Jones R and Smith M A 1993 Optical dating at Deaf Adder Gorge Northern Territory indicates human occupation between 53000 and 60000 years ago Australian Archaeology 37 58-59

Rust A 1950 Die Haumlhlenfunde von Jabrud Syrien Kar Wachholtz Neumuumlnster Semenov S A 1964 Prehistoric technology Londres Cory Adams and Mackay London Sondaar P Y 1984 Faunal evolution and the mammalian biostratigraphy of Java Proceedings

Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 69 219-235 Sondaar P Y 1987 Pleistocene man and extinctions of island endemics Memoirs du Societe

GeologiquedeFrance NS 150 159-165 Sondaar P Y van den Bergh G D Mubroto B Aziz F de Vos J and Batu U L 1994

Middle Pleistocene faunal turnover and colonization of Flores (Indonesia) by Homo erectus Comptes Rendus de I Academie des Sciences Paris 319 1255-1262

31

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion Vol 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Sondaar P Y R Elburg G Klein Hofmeijer F Martini M Sanges A Spaan and H de Visser 1995 The human colonization of Sardinia a Late-Pleistocene human fossil from Corbeddu Cave Comptes Rendus de IAcademie des Sciences Paris 320 145-50

Straus L G 1995 Comment on R G Bednarik Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic Current Anthropology 36 622-623

Swisher C c G H Curtis T Jacob A A Getty A Suprijo and Widiasmoro 1994 The age of the earliest hominids in Indonesia Science 263 1118-2l

Thieme H 1995 Die altpalaumlolithischen Fundschichten Schoumlningen 12 (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) In H Thieme und R Maier (eds) Archaumlologische Ausgrabungen im Braunkohlentagebau Schoumlningen Landkreis Helmstedt Verlag Hahnsehe Buchhandlung Hannover pp 62-72

Thieme H 1996 Altpalaumlolithische Wurfspeere aus Schoumlningen Niedersachsen - ein Vorbericht Archaumlologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26 377-393

Thieme H 1997 Lower Palaeolitrnc hunting spears from Germany Nature 385 807-810 Thorne A G 1980 The longest link human evolution in Southeast Asia and the settlement of

Australia In J J Fox R G Garnaut P T McCawley and J A C Mackie (eds) ndonesia Australian perspectives Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University Canberra pp 35-43

Thorne A G 1989 Man on the rim the peopling ofthe Pacific Angus and Robertson Sydney Tobias P V 1995 The bearing of fossils and mitochondrial DNA on the evolution of modern

humans with a critique of the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis South African Archaeological Bulletin 50 155-167

Van den Bergh G D 1997 The Late Neogene elephantoid-bearing faunas of Indonesia and their palaeozoogeographic implications Unpubl PhD thesis Institute of Earth Sciences University of Utrecht

Verhoeven T 1952 Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesie) Anthropos 47 95-98 Verhoeven T 1953 Eine Mikrolithenkultur in Mittel- und West-Flores Anthropos 48 597-612 Verhoeven T 1956 The Watu Weti (picture rock) ofFlores Anthropos 51 1077-1079 Verhoeven T 1958a Pleistozaumlne Funde in Flores Anthropos 53 264-265 Verhoeven T 1958b Proto-Negrito in den Grotten auf Flores Anthropos 53 229-32 Verhoeven T 1958c Neue Funde praumlhistorischer Fauna in Flores Anthropos 53 262-63 Verhoeven T 1959 Die Klingenkultur der Insel Timor Anthropos 54 970-972 Verhoeven T 1964 Stegodon-Fossilien auf der Insel Timor Anthropos 59 634 Verhoeven T 1968 Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen auf Flores Timor und Sumba In Anthropica

Gedenkschrift zum 100 Geburtstag von P W Schmidt Studia Instituti Aothropos No 21 St Augustin pp 393-403

Verhoeven T and Fuchs S 1959 A microlithic site at Adamgarh Anthropos 54 580-581 Verhoeven T and Heine-Geldern R 1954 Bronzegeraumlte auf Flores Anthropos 49 683-684 Wagner E 1990 Oumlkonomie und Oumlkologie in den altpalaumlolithischen TravertinfundsteIlen von Bad

Cannstatt Fundberichte aus Baden-Wuumlrttemberg 15 1-15 WaJJace A R 1890 The Malay Archipelago Macmillan London Warner c and Bednarik R G 1996 Pleistocene kootting In J C Turner and P van de Griend

(eds) History and science ofknots World Scientific Singapore pp 3-18 Wickler S and Spriggs M J T 1988 Pleistocene human occupation of the Solotnon Islands

Melanesia Antiquity 62 703-706 Zeist W Van 1957 De mesolitische Boot van Pesse Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 75 4-11

32

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33

Migration amp Diffusion V oL 3 Issue Number 10 2002

Zusammenfassung

Die derzeit verfuumlgbare weltweite Evidenz pleistozaumlner Meeresbefahrung wird gruumlndlich rezensiert und im Rahmen der sachdienlichen Technologien eroumlrtert Sie bietet ein Bild weitverbreiteter Inselbesiedlung waumlhrend des Spaumltpleistozaumlns und wesentlich fruumlhere Seefahrtsfaumlhigkeiten in zwei Weltgegenden Suumldostasien und am Mittelmeer Meeressperren haben als technologische Filter fungiert in dem Sinn daszlig ihre Uumlberquerung nur an bestimmten technologischen Schwellen moumlglich war Dieses Prinzip ist aumlhnlich dem des FilterefTektes derselben Sperren auf Tierarten der sich auf die Faumlhigkeit einer Zuchtbevoumllkerung bezieht eine Strecke mit den ihr zur Verfuumlgung stegenden Mitteln zu uumlberqueren Um das technologische Ausmaszlig dieser vielen maritimen Leistungen besser zu verstehen befassen sich derzeit Expeditionen mit einer Serie von replikativen Experimenten Der Artikel schlieszligt mit der Proposition daszlig die hominide kognitive und kulturelle Entwicklung waumlhrend des MitteIshyund fruumlhen Spaumltpleistozaumlns sehr falsch beurteilt wurde Die Seefahrtsleistungen der pleistozaumlnen Matrosen bestaumltigt die kulturellen Beweise einer hohen Entwicklung die bereits in der Palaumlokunst vorliegt

Correspondence address

Robert G Bednacik President International Federation oE Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO)

Director International Institu te oE Replicative Archaeology (INRA)

Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) PO Box 216

Caulfield South Vic 3162 Australia

Tel Fax (61-3) 9523 0549 E -mail aurawebhotmailcom

33