How Did Stone Age Humans Catch Tuna?

People were bringing tuna-family fish to Jerimalai, Timor-Leste, around 42,000 years ago. How did they catch them? The bones survived. The earliest fishing gear did not. Could nets help explain the catch? At this rock shelter, a single excavation square yielded more than 38,000 fish bones and fragments across different periods. The original researchers estimated the open-water fish at around 50–60 centimeters long and interpreted most as immature—a clue that led them to suggest netting as one possible method. This episode follows the evidence from those bones to the practical challenges of cordage, mesh, and knowing where fish gather. No net has been recovered from the earliest occupation. A surviving shell fishhook comes from much later deposits, roughly 23,000–16,000 years ago, so it cannot establish how the earliest catches were made. Whether the fishing happened offshore or closer to the coast is also debated; the bones alone do not reveal a particular boat or distance from shore. CHAPTERS 00:00 A 42,000-year-old fishing mystery 00:33 The fish bones at Jerimalai 01:12 Small fish, a big clue 01:39 Could nets work? 02:07 Making a net is only half the job 02:57 Why the shell hook does not settle it 03:44 Offshore or close to the coast? 04:09 What we know—and what is missing What do you think would be harder: making the gear or learning where to find the fish? Share your thoughts below, and subscribe to The Human Backstory for more evidence-led stories about everyday life in the human past. SOURCES & FURTHER READING • O'Connor, Ono & Clarkson (2011), “Pelagic Fishing at 42,000 Years Before the Present and the Maritime Skills of Modern Humans.” Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1207703 Open-access university record: https://hdl.handle.net/1885/35424 • Anderson (2013), “The antiquity of sustained offshore fishing.” Antiquity. An alternative, inshore interpretation. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X0004... • O'Connor & Ono (2013), “The case for complex fishing technologies: a response to Anderson.” Antiquity. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X0004... • Shipton et al. (2019), “A new 44,000-year sequence from Asitau Kuru (Jerimalai), Timor-Leste, indicates long-term continuity in human behaviour.” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00... The later site chronology is not a new date for every fish remain discussed here. PRODUCTION NOTE This video uses AI-generated illustrations and narration. The visuals are explanatory illustrations, not footage of historical events or proof of a recovered fishing method. #StoneAge #Archaeology #HumanHistory