Traveling the High Seas: Evidence of Seafaring among Early Anatomically Modern Humans

Approximately 35,000 to 40000 years ago the Philippine Islands were geographically isolated and difficult to reach, but there was evidence derived from archaeological investigations completed in 1969 and 1970 that demonstrated that the earliest Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) occupation of the islands was anywhere between 10,000 to 39,000 years ago.  This begged the question as to how AMH reached the islands.  An article published in 2025 is answering that question, while also introducing new ones, particularly related to the creative ingenuity of early AMH.  It also provided greater insights into the timeline of human occupation of the Philippine Islands. 

 

Research derived from the Mindoro Archaeology Project built upon previously completed research concerning AMH occupation of the Philippine Islands.  The previous evidence showed that two sites, one located at Tabon Cave and another nearby site, demonstrated AMH occupation, but there were conflicting dates between the artifacts and human remains.  This is why there is a large chronological time scale of potential AMH occupation of the Philippines.  Researchers associated with the Mindoro Archaeology Project wanted to narrow that timeline further, so they set out to investigate seven additional, previously understudied or unstudied cave and rock shelter sites.  Of the seven five yielded evidence of AMH occupation, which included evidence of shell that was manipulated for food consumption and tool construction, oceanic fish that demonstrated evidence of being used for food, human burials, lithics, and pottery. 

 

Even more interesting was that the radiometric dating of these pieces of evidence showed continually use of the sites, meaning they were visited frequently despite their geographic distance from each other.  This, coupled with the inclusion of deep water fish resources, suggested that the AMH populations of the region were accessing the islands in some way other than by foot.  They possibly had the creative ingenuity to make boats.  The worked shell evidence suggests that the AMH populations were working wood, although it is unclear if that was specifically to make boats.  Unfortunately, given the preservation issues in the region wooden artifacts do not preserve well.  Thus far the evidence provided at these sites suggests that seafaring was the most likely means of travel to and from the sites, as well as reoccupation of the sites over the years.  This ultimately demonstrates that early AMH populations were far more creative and adept at problem solving and technology creation than many previously gave them credit for, demonstrating the breadth of intellect among humans throughout time.

 

References:

Pawlik, Alfred F.; Riczar B. Fuentes; Marie Grace Pamela G. Faylona; Trishia Gayle R. Palconit; Tanya Uldin. Chronology and ecology of early islanders in the Philippines: The Mindoro Archaeology Project. Archaeological Research in Asia, Volume 42. 2025. doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2025.100616.