Argonauts of the Stone Age: Early Maritime Activity from the First Migrations from Africa to the End of the Neolithic by Andrzej Pydyn (review)

Argonauts of the Stone Age arrives at a time where there is increasing scholarly and public interest in early seafaring activity and the role it played in the major developments of the Homo species (e.g., Pleistocene migrations from Africa, island colonization, and the spread of the Neolithic). Other notable recent volumes include Broodbank (2013), Phoca-Cosmetatou (2011), and Simmons (2014). Throughout most of the twentieth century, it was believed that major bodies of water acted as barriers to movement for both early modern humans and our ancestors. Within the last two decades, however, a growing amount of information, including archaeo-logical, anthropological, geological, ethnographic, environmental, geochemical, and genetic, has called this belief into question. In this book, although the perspective is mainly archaeological, Pydyn draws on these different lines of evidence to examine early maritime activities.

Temporally, the book spans the Lower Paleolithic to the Neolithic. It impressively covers the Mediterranean basin and western and northern Europe. There is also some discussion of maritime activity outside of these core geographic foci, including Southeast Asia and the Americas. The brief introductory chapter presents the layout of the book, including various themes of migration and colonization, exploitation of the sea environment, navigation, and types of water transport (p. 2). It is clear in these first few pages that Pydyn supports the assumption that members of the Homo species engaged in early maritime activity.

Traditionally, it was argued that hominin dispersals followed land routes. However, newer research suggests that open water crossings might also have been involved. Chapter 1, “Lower Palaeolithic seafarers: The oldest evidence of migration and sea-crossing,” traces the Lower Paleolithic migrations of the Homo species from Africa and into Europe and Asia. In particular, Pydyn examines the main sea routes that our hominin ancestors might have crossed: the Strait of Gibraltar, the Strait of Sicily, and the Strait of Bab-El-Mandab (Gate of Grief). Key physical, environmental, and geological characteristics are provided for each of the straits, including distance between the landmasses, possibility of the emergence of islands, and strength and direction of sea currents. Given that we do not fully understand Pleistocene conditions, the author should have treated these characteristics more cautiously. Nonetheless, Pydyn makes a compelling case that these straits could have been crossed by early hominins. Unfortunately, the evidence for these crossings in the form of stone tools and hominin skeletal remains have no associated dates. The author’s argument is further substantiated by the inclusion of far stronger evidence of hominin sea-crossings in southeast Asia, particularly from the island of Flores.

In Chapter 2, “Middle Palaeolithic seafarers: The Neanderthal and the sea,” the author turns to evidence from the Mediterranean islands and northern Europe to provide support for Neanderthal maritime activity. In regards to the former, particular focus was given to Coscia Cave (Corsica), the Plakias area (Crete), the Loutro region (Gavdos), and several of the Ionian islands, where stone tools have been recovered with Middle Paleolithic characteristics. However, radiometric dating of these artifacts or their contexts is often not possible (Phoca-Cosmetatou and Rabett 2014; Simmons 2014). The author’s coverage of this issue could have been stronger in places. In addition, there is some disagreement as to whether the faunal remains from Coscia Cave were recovered with clear-cut associated material culture (Phoca-Cosmetatou and Rabett 2014; Simmons 2014). Pydyn notes that there is less evidence of Neanderthal maritime activity in northern Europe, as compared with the Mediterranean basin (p. 33). He suggests that this situation is partly due to rises in sea level which led to the inundation of sites.

Chapter 3, “Upper and Final Paleolithic seafarers—the expansion of modern humans” focuses on the key issue of the migration of modern humans. Beginning with...