Evidence unearthed at the Latnija cave complex on Malta, an island situated in the Mediterranean Sea, comprising vestiges of stone implements, communal fire pits, and charred food remnants, unequivocally demonstrates that hunter-gatherer populations navigated at least 100 kilometers of open ocean to reach this locale approximately 8,500 years ago. This feat predates the settlement of the island by early agriculturalists by a full millennium.
Hunter-gatherers were crossing at least 100 km of open water to reach Malta 8,500 years ago. Image credit: Daniel Clarke / MPI GEA.
The Maltese archipelago represents a chain of islands positioned among the most geographically isolated territories within the Mediterranean basin.
Prevailing scholarly consensus posited that the initial human habitation of such small, secluded landmasses did not commence until the widespread transition to Neolithic subsistence strategies, occurring roughly 7,500 years prior.
Under conventional interpretations, the inherent constraints of limited resources and ecological fragility characteristic of diminutive islands, compounded by the formidable technological hurdles associated with extensive maritime voyages, rendered these expeditions either unfeasible or undesirable for hunter-gatherer communities.
“Leveraging oceanic currents and prevailing atmospheric movements, in conjunction with the strategic use of terrestrial markers, celestial navigation, and other directional guidance methodologies, a sea passage of approximately 100 kilometers is plausible, achievable at an average velocity of around 4 kilometers per hour,” stated Professor Nicholas Vella, a researcher affiliated with the University of Malta and a co-investigator on the study.
“Even during the period of longest daylight in the annual cycle, these mariners would have encountered extended durations of nocturnal transit across open water.”
Within the Latnija cave settlement, situated in Malta’s northern Mellieħa district, investigators identified tangible evidence of human presence, manifesting as lithic artifacts, evidence of controlled fire, and the detritus of processed foodstuffs.
“At this archaeological locus, we exhumed a varied collection of faunal remains, encompassing many hundreds of specimens attributed to deer, avian species, chelonians, and vulpids,” remarked Dr. Mathew Stewart, a scholar from Griffith University.
“Several of these wild fauna are believed to have become extinct by this specific epoch,” added Professor Eleanor Scerri, an academic associated with the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Malta.
“These populations were actively engaged in the procurement and preparation of Cervus elaphus, alongside tortoises and avian species, including some of exceptionally large dimensions that are no longer extant.”
Furthermore, the scientific team uncovered irrefutable indications of marine resource exploitation.
“We identified the skeletal fragments of pinnipeds, a spectrum of piscine species, notably groupers, and thousands of calcined marine gastropods, crustaceans, and echinoderms, all conclusively subjected to thermal processing,” reported Dr. James Blinkhorn, a researcher at the University of Liverpool and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.
“The integration of a broad array of terrestrial flora and fauna, and particularly marine life, into their dietary regimen was likely instrumental in enabling these hunter-gatherer groups to subsist effectively on an island of Malta’s modest size,” posited Dr. Stewart.
These pivotal findings also precipitate critical inquiries regarding the extirpation of endemic wildlife on Malta and other remote Mediterranean islands, and whether distant Mesolithic cultural entities might have maintained interconnections through maritime transit.
“The outcomes augment our understanding of Maltese prehistory by an entire millennium and necessitate a fundamental reassessment of the navigational capabilities of Europe’s terminal hunter-gatherer societies, alongside their reciprocal relationships and ecological impacts,” asserted Professor Scerri.
The research paper authored by the collective was disseminated today within the esteemed journal Nature.
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E.M.L. Scerri et al. Hunter-gatherer sea voyages extended to remotest Mediterranean islands. Nature, published online April 9, 2025; doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-08780-y
