https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/science/anthropology-ocean-migration-japan.html Skip to contentSkip to site index Science Today's Paper Science|Scientists Retrace 30,000-Year-Old Sea Voyage, in a Hollowed-Out Log https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/science/ anthropology-ocean-migration-japan.html * Share full article * * Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Scientists Retrace 30,000-Year-Old Sea Voyage, in a Hollowed-Out Log Japanese researchers turned to "experimental archaeology" to study how ancient humans navigated powerful ocean currents and migrated offshore. Listen to this article * 6:01 min Learn more * Share full article * * Video [25HS-ANCIE] Researchers crafted a replica of a Paleolithic canoe and set out from Taiwan in 2019 to examine how ancient humans managed to reach islands such as Okinawa without maps or metal tools.CreditCredit...National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo By Franz Lidz Published June 25, 2025Updated June 27, 2025 In 1947, against the best navigational advice, the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and five crew members set sail from Peru on a balsa wood raft to test his theory that ancient South American cultures could have reached Polynesia. The frail vessel, called Kon-Tiki, crossed several thousand nautical miles of the Pacific in 103 days and showed that his anthropological hunch was at least feasible. In 2019, in much the same spirit, a research team led by Yousuke Kaifu, an anthropologist at the University of Tokyo, built a dugout canoe in order to study another aspect of western Pacific migration: How did ancient humans, more than 30,000 years ago, navigate the powerful Kuroshio current from Taiwan to southern Japanese islands, such as Okinawa, without maps, metal tools or modern boats? "Since any physical evidence would have been washed away by the sea, we turned to experimental archaeology, in a similar vein to the Kon-Tiki," Dr. Kaifu said. Two new studies published on Wednesday in the academic journal Science Advances presented the results of those experiments. In one report, advanced ocean models recreated hundreds of virtual voyages to pinpoint the most plausible routes for the crossing. "We tested various seasons, starting points and paddling methods under both modern and prehistoric conditions," Dr. Kaifu said. The other paper charts the 45-hour journey that Dr. Kaifu's crew made from eastern Taiwan to Yonaguni Island in the southern Ryukyus. The mariners, four men and one woman, paddled the 25-foot canoe, a hollowed-out cedar log christened Sugime, for 122 nautical miles on the open sea, relying solely on the stars, sun and wind for their bearings. Often, they could not see their target island. "Yosuke Kaifu's team has found the most likely answer to the migration question," said Peter Bellwood, an archaeologist at the Australian National University who was not involved in the undertaking. Such a crossing between islands, he said, would have been one of the oldest, and among the longest, in the history of Homo sapiens up to that period, exceeded only by the migration to Australia from eastern Indonesia some 50,000 years ago. Video [25HS-ANCIE] The 25-foot-long canoe, christened Sugime, was cut and hollowed from a cedar tree using an edge-ground stone axe with a wooden handle. CreditCredit...National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation * (c) 2025 The New York Times Company * NYTCo * Contact Us * Accessibility * Work with us * Advertise * T Brand Studio * Your Ad Choices * Privacy Policy * Terms of Service * Terms of Sale * Site Map * Canada * International * Help * Subscriptions * Manage Privacy Preferences