New archaeological discoveries on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi suggest that early humans made a major sea crossing far earlier than previously believed.
Stone tools dating back over a million years reveal that ancient hominins were active in this region of Wallacea, a zone long considered a barrier to migration....
Ancient tools found on Sulawesi suggest early humans crossed formidable seas over a million years ago, leaving behind mysteries about their identity and evolution.
Researchers from Griffith University have uncovered evidence that ::
Early hominins ventured across open seas to reach the Indonesian island of Sulawesi far earlier than previously believed.
The discovery comes from stone tools at the Early Pleistocene (or ‘Ice Age’) site of Calio, dated to at least 1.04 million years ago.
The study, published in Nature, was led by Budianto Hakim of Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and Professor Adam Brumm of the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University.
Hakim’s excavation team unearthed seven stone artifacts from sandstone layers exposed in a cornfield in southern Sulawesi. These tools provide direct evidence of early human activity in the region.