Archaeologists have found 7,000-year-old canoes, which confirm the early development of seafaring

Archaeologists have found 7,000-year-old canoes, which confirm the early development of seafaring

Plos ONE

Technologically complex wooden canoes of the Neolithic period were found in Italy. They are proof that people were engaged in seafaring more than 7000 years ago.

This is reported in a study published in the scientific journal Plos ONE The Telegraph and Arkeonews.

Five large carved wooden canoes were found at the site of a Neolithic settlement called La Marmotta near Rome. Now it is flooded by Lake Bracciano, which is located near the Mediterranean Sea.

The boats date back to between 5700 and 5100 BC and are the oldest in the region. They are made of four types of wood and are 11 meters long.

Previously, researchers had already found boats in the Netherlands, France and Germany that were 10,000 years old. However, they were thought to have been used to navigate local waterways and lakes.

Newer boats have traces of “t-shaped” holes that may have been used to attach ropes to sails. This indicates that these ships were used for long journeys.

Experts suggest that the boats could be connected to each other to create a double hull in the form of a catamaran. This would provide greater safety, stability and capacity for transportation.

Tests have shown that such boats can cover about 55 kilometers per day.

“This study reveals the astonishing technological sophistication of early agricultural and pastoralist communities, highlighting their skills in woodworking and complex vessel construction,” – noted archaeologists.

Usually, wooden boats are not stored. However, this was helped by the fact that they were flooded by Lake Bracciano. In Neolithic times, it was smaller than today, and the coastline extended further from the settlement of La Marmotta.

Scientists assume that the inhabitants of the settlement sailed their boats on the nearby Arrone River, which connected them to the Mediterranean Sea.

At La Marmotta, archaeologists also found evidence that people used obsidian from the nearby islands of Lipari and Palmarola to make tools. This indicates that the stone was imported by water.

According to archaeologists, the canoes found may help explain how agriculture spread so quickly throughout the Mediterranean and northern Europe.

We will remind you, archaeologists found the skull of a 16-million-year-old river dolphin that swam in the waters of the present-day Amazon.