Homo Erectus May Have Been a Sailor Who Could Speak

A new theory suggests that Homo erectus was able to create seagoing vessels.

homo erectus
(Agoes Rudianto/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
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Homo erectus may have been further along than we think — there is evidence that the could make tools, had similar bodies to modern humans, and now, one expert is arguing that Homo erectus might have been a mariner, complete with sailing lingo. Homo erectus first appeared in Africa more than 1.8 million years ago. It is thought to be the first archaic human to leave the continent. Their tools have turned up not only in Southern Europe but also in China and Indonesia. Daniel Everett, professor of global studies at Bentley University, and author of How Language Began, thinks that oceans were not barriers to homo erectus. “They sailed to the island of Crete and various other islands. It was intentional: they needed craft and they needed to take groups of twenty or so at least to get to those places.” Everett is not the first person to raise the idea of homo erectus sailing, but he takes it one step further: language. It is unknown when language emerged among hominids, but most think it started no earlier than 200,000 years ago. Everett disagrees.

Erectus needed language when they were sailing to the island of Flores. They couldn’t have simply caught a ride on a floating log because then they would have been washed out to sea when they hit the current,” said Everett, presenting his thesis at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Austin, according to The Guardian. “They needed to be able to paddle. And if they paddled they needed to be able to say ‘paddle there’ or ‘don’t paddle.’ You need communication with symbols not just grunts.”

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