An international team of researchers led by archaeologist Dr. Dylan Gaffney says a sample of 50,000-year-old tree resin collected by prehistoric humans using “sophisticated engineering techniques” shows that Homo sapiens probably spread across the Pacific as early as 55,000 years ago.

Previous research efforts have suggested human presence at the Madjedbebe rock shelter in northern Australia dating back thousands of years, but these findings remain controversial.

The sample of ancient tree resin collected from Mololo Cave on Waigeo Island may be the most compelling evidence yet that these early humans spread across the Pacific islands thousands of years earlier than previously thought, using sophisticated technological methods. According to the researchers of the latest study, these findings are likely to push back the accepted date when humans first colonized the numerous Pacific islands by thousands of years.

“The Molokai resin reveals sophisticated technological processes developed by people migrating into rainforest areas,” Gaffney explained. “This contributes to our growing understanding of the adaptability and flexibility of early human foragers in the Pleistocene.”

50,000-year-old tree resin collection reveals sophisticated technological processes

In their study, which was published in the scientific journal AntiquityThe research team notes that the exact date when humans spread across the Pacific is still hotly debated. As previously mentioned, some evidence of human settlement in ancient northern Australia stretches back as far as 65,000 years ago. Unfortunately, these dates seem to clash with the overwhelming lack of evidence found along the northern route that ancient humans would likely have taken to reach the region. As a result, the oldest verifiable arrival of ancient humans in the Pacific dates to around 44,000 years ago.

In their study, Dr. Gaffney and his colleagues say new evidence from manually collected and processed 50,000-year-old tree resin shows that humans using sophisticated technological processes arrived on Waigeo Island, which lies on the northern route most suitable for human dispersal to Australia, as early as 50,000 to 55,000 years ago. The new discovery exceeds previous estimates by almost 10,000 years and shows that humans probably crossed the Pacific thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

“The tree resin artifact provides evidence of complex plant processing during early human dispersal,” they write. The researchers point out that the resin sample is “rectilinear,” which is “completely different from spherical, naturally formed resins.” They argue that this finding indicates that it was “collected by humans directly from the tree.”

An analysis of the 50,000-year-old tree resin under a scanning electron microscope also showed that it was produced “in a multi-stage sequence.” This assumption was supported by various “chip and scratch marks” on the resin’s different surfaces. In addition, the researchers said, the shape and structure of the ancient resin sample showed that it was likely produced by humans “cutting into the trunk of the tree itself.”

Evidence supports the theory of human colonization of the Pacific in ancient times

Although evidence of humans using sophisticated technological processes has been found in various locations around the world, the researchers behind this latest find say it is crucial in the search for the earliest human migrations across the Pacific. They also point out that their simulations of human movements in the area support this theory, particularly the theory that early human sailors reached the ancient continent of Sahul, which connected Australia and New Guinea.

“We used computer simulations of Pleistocene ocean currents to model how long it would have taken to get between these islands,” Gaffney said. “We found that the success rate for sailors attempting to cross these water gaps was high and that it would have been relatively easy for experienced sailors to do so.”

Surprisingly, these simulations showed that some crossings may have been only a few kilometers long. The researchers suspect that this finding means that ancient sailors may have paddled manually from island to island.

“Our novel seafaring simulations show that eastbound crossings between Obi–Kofiau–Waitanta were easiest, even with minimal propulsion,” they write. “Successful arrivals at Waitanta by paddling at 1.5 knots (0.77 m/s) were almost guaranteed when sailing from Kofiau, Gebe and Halmahera to the west or Sahul to the east. Even in less than optimal weather, crossings between Waitanta and Sahul across the Sagewin Strait were safe for rafts at 1.5 knots, but possible under ideal conditions with slower paddling.”

Other early human populations not excluded

In the study’s conclusion, the researchers admit that the exact use of the extracted 50,000-year-old tree resin is unknown. However, they point out that the process described in their research is consistent with “ethnographic accounts” of how the Waigeo Indians living in the area extracted tree resin in more recent centuries. The team also suspects that it could have been used for fuel fires, boat building, or to attach stone tools to wooden handles. Regardless of the resin’s intended use, the team says the discovery of a 50,000-year-old technology on this remote Pacific island provides significant support for early human migration, which was confirmed thousands of years earlier.

“The Mololo investigations provide important, albeit sparse, evidence for settlement along the northern equatorial route to Sahul 50,000 years ago (possibly >55,000 years ago),” they write. “Homo sapiens probably left these archaeological finds while moving through the humid tropics on a raft/boat.”

The team acknowledges that further research is needed to confirm their findings, but points out that they cannot rule out the possibility that another earlier human ancestor extracted the resin.

“It should be noted that, based on modern population genetic knowledge, it is currently not possible to exclude the possibility that Denisovans or people carrying both H. sapiens and Denisovan ancestry – and interbred on the islands of Wallacea or continental Eurasia – migrated along this route,” they conclude.

Christopher Plain is a science fiction and fantasy author and senior science writer at The Debrief. Follow and contact him on X, Find out about his books at plainfiction.com or email him directly at [email protected].