How it began
People living at the Jerimalai cave site, in present-day Timor-Leste, were catching fast-moving ocean fish such as tuna about 42,000 years ago. Professor Sue O'Connor of the Australian National University excavated the site and reported more than 38,000 fish bones from 2,843 individual fish, the oldest dating back 42,000 years. The results were published in the journal Science in 2011 and were described as the oldest evidence of deep-sea fishing in the world.
How it works
How the people of Jerimalai caught open-ocean fish is not known. O'Connor noted that tuna can be taken in nets, or with hooks and trolling, and that simple devices such as tethered logs can be used to attract them. The site also produced a fish hook made from shell, dated to between 23,000 and 16,000 years ago, which the team believed was the earliest known example. That hook did not seem suited to open-ocean fishing, though other kinds of hooks may have been made at the same time.
What changed first
The finds showed that early modern humans in Island Southeast Asia had advanced maritime skills. Catching tuna and similar species would be challenging even now, and O'Connor concluded that the people of Jerimalai must have used quite sophisticated technology and watercraft to fish offshore. The shell hook also showed that they were skilled craftspeople as well as fishers.
Where it stands today
The Jerimalai finds remain a reference point for the early history of fishing. Nature reported the discovery in 2011 as the first deep-sea fish supper, dated to 42,000 years ago, and as the oldest fish hook then known. The exact fishing method used at the site, whether nets, hooks or some other gear, is still an open question in the published accounts.
