TheNeolithic sailorsof the Mediterranean traveled aboard sophisticated vessels that already contained many of the nautical solutions see on forward-looking gravy holder . The quality and complexness of these prehistoric crafts indicate that several major approach in sailing were achieved during the lateStone Age , pave the way for the spread of the ancient world ’s most important civilization .
It ’s well known that marine trade links existed in the Mediterranean during theNeolithic , although until now it was undecipherable how adept these early mariners were at handle the Wave . navigate through this uncertainty , the generator of a unexampled study have analyzed five dug - out canoes that were discovered at a 7,000 - year - old settlement that now lies at the bottom of an Italian lake .
know as La Marmotta , the land site is inundate beneath 8 meter ( 26 base ) of water and a further three meters ( 10 feet ) of sediment , more or less 300 m ( 985 feet ) from the present shoreline of Lake Bracciano , near Rome . Thought to have been inhabited between 5700 and 5150 BCE , the ancient settlement is distinguish by the researchers as the earliest Neolithic lakeshore village in the central Mediterranean .
This prehistoric canoe was carved out of an oak trunk.Image credit: Gibaja et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, (CC-BY 4.0)
Of the five canoe get hold at the situation , the turgid was made from an enormous oak trunk and measured 10.43 meter ( 34 foot ) in length . allot to the generator , four “ transversal reinforcements ” on the base of the vessel “ would have increase the durability of the hull and protect it , as well as improving its handling . ”
Even more remarkably , the researchers found three T - shaped wooden item on the starboard side of the craftiness , each boast multiple fix . “ The feature and placement of these objects propose that they might have been used to fasten ropes tie to a potential sheet or to join other nautical elements such as a stabilizer or even another boat to create a double Cordell Hull in the form of a catamaran , ” they write .
“ Those scheme would have cater greater safety and stableness , and great capacity for the transport of people , animals and good . ”
The second canoe was made from a dig - out alder trunk and contained a “ mushroom - shaped ” bit of wood with a single hole in it . Noting the similarity between this object and “ forward-looking bitt seen in our ports , ” the authors “ suggest that its procedure might have been precisely that , to secure the canoe when the piss level uprise in the lake . ”
Of the remaining three boats , one was mould from alder , one was carve from poplar , and one was fashioned from a beech Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . According to the researcher , the diversity of wood types used for the boats betoken that the prehistoric builders had a keen appreciation of the different property of each textile .
Oak , for representative , may have been selected for its enduringness , while alder was probably used as it is light and resistant to cracking .
“ Direct geological dating of Neolithic canoes from La Marmotta reveals them to be the oldest in the Mediterranean , offer invaluable sixth sense into Neolithic navigation , ” said the generator in astatement . “ This study reveals the amazing technical sophistication of early agricultural and pastoral community of interests , foreground their woodworking acquirement and the construction of complex vessels . ”
Given the size of it of the canoe , the researcher mistrust that they were probably intended for use far beyond Lake Bracciano . They therefore speculate that the boats may have been sailed down the River Arrone - which connect the lake to the Mediterranean Sea - before continuing their voyage to strange res publica .
Evidence for these overseas trip can be found in the numerous exotic artifacts unveil at La Marmotta , including Greek and Baltic pottery as well as obsidian tools from the island of Lipari and Palmarola . The seaworthiness of the vessels has also been demonstrated by a radical ofexperimental archaeologistswho built a replica of one of the canoe back in 1998 and sailed over 800 kilometers ( 500 geographical mile ) from Italy to Portugal .
The study has been published in the journalPLOS ONE .
