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Letter: Solving the mystery of Stone Age seafarers (2)

Published 11 March 2026

From Mark Pickin, Easingwold, North Yorkshire, UK

I have read your correspondence about this article and think that both the article and these letters miss a couple of important points. During the last glacial period, there were land bridges between Sicily and Malta and Gozo, which would have established the knowledge and the route. Secondly, the distance from Sicily to Malta is irrelevant. What is important is at what point a fisher, fishing off Sicily, would be able to see the highest point of Malta, or birds flying over it, and still be confident about finding their way back to Sicily. I think it is very far-fetched to imagine that Stone Age seafarers would have set out over the horizon to seek new territory without foreknowledge.

Issue no. 3586 published 14 March 2026

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