Friday, October 19, 2007

Did seafood lure people "Out of Africa?"

A new study reveals the oldest known coastal human habitation in Africa. The evidence helps support theories that early humans began living close to the sea and subsisting largely on shellfish.

I have proposed that the Nusantao, probably consisting largely of Austronesian seafaring peoples, extended this ancient practice as a logical adaptation to their environment, and that early shell mound sites stand as evidence.

Did seafood encourage 'Out of Africa' trips?

October 17 2007 at 10:28AM

By Richard Ingham

Paris - Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known remains of
human habitation by the coast, a finding that may explain how humans
ventured beyond Africa at the start of their planetary odyssey.

Mussel shells, sharpened pieces of red ochre and stone micro-tools
found in a sea cave in South Africa suggest that Homo sapiens headed
for the beach quite soon after emerging from the savannah, they say.

By stumbling upon the rich harvest of the sea, Man found the means to
explore beyond Africa, sustaining himself through maritime edibles by
probing along the coast, they suggest.

Read more.

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