Archaeologists Discover 7000-Year-Old Boats Near Rome
Episode Stats
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142.85715
Summary
More than 7,000 years ago, people navigated the Mediterranean sea using technologically sophisticated boats. During the Neolithic Period, these boats were the space rockets of that era, when they revolutionized transportation and communication across the seas.
Transcript
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everyone loves to hear about european technology advancements our people and our folk and things
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like that and really if you go back in time if you go back to the neolithic age when you talk
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about boats you're really talking about kind of the space rockets of that era at least in terms
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of what you were able to do with them when it comes to mobility and transportation and trade
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communication you know all these kinds of fascinating things so apparently they've found
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some pretty interesting boats that have been excavated in the mediterranean from the neolithic
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period which revealed ancient nautical technology more than 7 000 years ago people navigated the
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mediterranean sea using technologically sophisticated boats many of the important civilizations in europe
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originated on the shores of the mediterranean sea during the neolithic communities clearly traveled
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and traded across the waters as evidenced by watercraft in the archaeological record
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and the presence of settlements on coasts and islands in this study out of spain guibay and
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colleagues provided new insight into the history of seafaring technology through analysis of canoes
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at the neolithic lakeshore of la marmot near rome italy excavation at this site has recorded five
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canoes built from hollowed out trees or dugout canoes dating between check this out 5700 and 5100
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bc analysis of these boats reveals that they were built from four different types of wood unusual
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among similar sites and that they include advanced construction techniques such as traverse reinforcements
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one canoe is also associated with three t-shaped wooden objects each with a series of holes
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that were likely used to fasten ropes tied to sails or other nautical elements fascinating if they
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use sails that far back interesting these features along with previous reconstruction experiments
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indicate these were sea worthy vessels a conclusion supported by the presence at the site of stone tools
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linked to nearby islands the authors describe these canoes as exceptional examples of prehistoric boats
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whose construction required a detailed understanding of structural design and wood properties in addition
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to well-organized specialized labor similarities between these canoes and more recent nautical
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technologies support the idea that many major advances in sailing were made during the early neolithic
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the authors suggest that there may be more boats preserved near la marmotta a potential avenue for future
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research the authors add quote direct dating of neolithic canoes from la marmotta reveals them to be
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the oldest in the mediterranean offering invaluable insights into neolithic navigation this study
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reveals the amazing technological sophistication of early agricultural and pastoral communities
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highlighting their woodworking skills and the construction of complex vessels so anyway something a little
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different that but fascinating i mean we hear all the time we used to hear anyway all the time from
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mainstream signs in academia that oceans were barriers and therefore we couldn't cross etc but of
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course then later realized no these were the highways of the times right if you look at sweden uh you look
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at the waterways the rivers and the creeks and canals and all these areas where you could go with boats
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were uh where all the earliest settlements were set up the water levels were different back then but uh they've
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reconstructed that stuff and they realized that these were boat faring people primarily right that's
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why i have you know our logo right now is one of those famous uh rock carvings one of the from the
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neolithic bronze age uh the solar boat as we uh call it the boat was intricately tied to ritual right to
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how you traverse overall you were taken into the afterlife this is in these boats this is echoed in
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egyptian mythology but of course later on the vikings uh improved and uh honed this skill that
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these people way back then uh most likely even knew and this might even be before the yam naya or the
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arian invasion into some of these areas definitely up in the uh scandinavian countries that happened much
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later in the process as well but yeah no so the boat has always been very very important as a means
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of uh travel communication trade all those things made it central of course in early european
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societies and it also kind of incorporates that a little bit of the faustian spirit right that we've
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some to some extent always utilized our minds our ability to uh produce things that helps and aids us
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right the use of technology ever since the day of the fire uh early man and especially european man
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have utilized things at his disposal in order to get things done fascinating this was a preview of our
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