The first humans to cast their rafts off into our planet’s seas and oceans did so during the last Ice Age – a time of dramatic and rapid climate change. Over tens of millennia, these explorations – combining a penchant for adventure, expert navigational knowledge, and a good deal of luck – allowed humans to settle on the far-flung shores of the Mediterranean, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Archaeological research is now starting to shed light on the long history of seafaring around the globe, including how humans have adapted to insular environments, innovated complex sailing techniques, and created ports to connect vast networks of sea lanes.
This one-day event will chart the deep human history of seafaring on the world’s oceans.
We will begin by meeting the earliest Stone Age explorers, which included the elusive ‘hobbits’, clever Neanderthals, and our own species too – Homo sapiens. We will then look to the tropical seas of Australia and the Pacific to see how voyaging canoes were used to settle newfound continents and the most remote atolls. We will examine how seafaring transformed the Mediterranean and Atlantic areas from the Neolithic through to the time of the Vikings. Finally, we will learn about the boat building and navigation techniques amongst Egyptian and Middle Eastern sailors, and how archaeologists are conserving this critical maritime heritage.
Please note: this event will close to enrolments at 23:59 UTC on 12 March 2024.