Better Late than Never

[uniface]

And with lots of artifact pictures

Archaeologists have discovered a set of tools they believe prove that man sailed the sea tens of thousands of years earlier than previously thought.
Rough axes and other tools thought to be between 130,000 and 700,000 years old were found close to shelters on the south coast of the Mediterranean island of Crete.
Crete has been separated from the mainland of Greece for about five million years, so whoever made the tools must have travelled there by sea, a distance of at least 40 miles.

Stone Age tools found in Crete prove man sailed the sea at least 130,000 years ago | Mail Online

There are those darned boats again, back before there were supposed to be any !

[cgode]

hmmm.......very interesting Uni, this should lead to interesting discussions. Seems like the boat possibility is always a contested topic.

[Rick doninger]

“Oldest” modern human remains identified in Israeli cave
Uni, this recent headline throws another clinker in the works.....

[joshuaream]

I've never understood that, Homo Erectus fossils have been found on several islands in South East Asia dating back to a million or so years ago... I'm not saying they built boats with oars, masts, sails, etc., but grabbing a log and swimming across seems do-able.

In the case of Crete, there are hundreds of islands down there, I'd be surprised if you can't see an island from Turkey, then another island, then another all the way to Crete. It's not like open ocean navigation where you need relatively complex math to build ships, track stars, etc.

[Mojave]

Ok, I'll bite.

"discovered a set of tools they believe prove that man sailed the sea tens of thousands of years earlier"

"tools thought to be between 130,000 and 700,000 years old were found"

"upset the current view that human ancestors migrated to Europe from Africa by land alone"

"Such rough stone implements are associated with Heidelberg Man and Homo Erectus, extinct precursors of the modern human race, which evolved from Africa about 200,000 years ago"

I really have no reason to doubt any of this is true. I just wish they would write it up better and provide substantiating evidence instead of the typical desire to "upset current views" with thoughts and beliefs.
Are there any folks in Europe arguing that it is not true, or passionately care either way? Are they really that upsetting?
I looked at a map of Crete. There are paths between the mainland and Crete where no more than 20 miles of water separate dry spots. And that is today. I have no idea what the distances were at various times in the past due to different sea levels.
If all this is true, which again I have no reason to doubt, I don't see the big deal. I certainly don't see how you extrapolate to "change our understanding of early hominids' cognitive abilities.'
Maybe it is just me....

Rick, I didn't see where it mentioned the earliest "modern" humans were found in an Israeli cave. But I remember reading this decades ago. Is there something new?

[Rick doninger]

“Oldest” modern human remains identified in Israeli cave

Mo, I hope this will get you to one of the recent articles, there have been several in the arch news over the past several weeks surrounding some teeth found that may predate the earliest african evidence.

[Mojave]

Thanks Rick, I had not heard that.
I remember reading about the modern human remains in Israel from 100,000-120,000 years ago. This pushes that back considerably if true.

[paleo_joe]

I think it has been proven scientifically impossible for the people who settled the Americas to get here in boats. Every time they got close, they'd lose their paddles or a big fish would try to eat them, and so they finally had to wait a hundred thousand years or so for the land bridge to open up.