Prehistoric crossings reveal learned sea routes

Evidence of exchange across the Mediterranean may push learned sea routes back to the Neolithic period or earlier. The same pattern appears around the Black Sea, Persian Gulf, South and East China Seas, Indonesian waters, and the Bering Strait. People and goods could not move repeatedly between known points by setting off into the unknown without accumulated navigational experience. Archaeological distributions of traded material therefore provide indirect evidence for practical navigation even when no written manual survives. These recurring maritime networks depended on communities preserving and teaching route knowledge.