November 24, 2011. Copyright 2011, Graphic News. All rights reserved

The world's first fish hooks?

LONDON, November 24, Graphic News: Researchers in East Timor, in Southeast Asia, have discovered the remains of large fish and fishing gear in a shelter that was used by early humans long ago. The remains include some fish hooks made out of bone that appear to be 42,000 years old, suggesting that early humans were fishing in the open ocean much earlier than researchers had thought.

Sue O'Connor and colleagues, who made the discovery, knew that early humans had been crossing the open oceans as long as 50,000 years ago to get to modern day Australia. However, the only prior evidence of fishing has been from about 12,000 years ago.

The findings in East Timor now suggest that early humans were not only good sailors, but were also effective deep-sea fishers some 42,000 years ago. A report on their discovery appears in the November 25 issue of the journal Science.

O'Connor and her colleagues say that their findings represent the first use of fish hooks on record and they describe the remains of large fish, like tuna, that were found at the shelter.

The remains that have been found are pelagic -- or open-ocean -- fish. Catching them requires a lot of planning and technology, and the researchers say that early humans must have developed these skills much earlier than expected.
/ENDS