The skeletal remains of deep ocean fish, including sharks and tuna, as well as fishing implements such as hooks and weights, were found at these Island Southeast Asia archaeological sites.
Notes on verification
Near-verbatim claim matches 2025 peer-reviewed study press release, corroborated by multiple independent outlets. Broader pattern independently confirmed by earlier peer-reviewed archaeological work (e.g., 2011 Science paper on Jerimalai, PNAS 2016) showing deep-sea fishing evidence at multiple ISEA sites. [cascade flags: aggregator_dropped_primary_exists | tier=silver indep_score=0.867 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=partial on Fuentes & Pawlik (2025) study for the specific Mindoro/Timor-Leste claim as phrased (upstreams: Fuentes & Pawlik 2025, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, O'Connor et al. 2011, Science (Jerimalai cave excavation)) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- News - Humans in Southeast Asia 40,000 Years Ago May Have Been Skilled Seafarers - Archaeology Magazine (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://scitechdaily.com/40000-year-old-tech-scientists-discover-mysterious-clues-of-ancient-technology-in-the-philippines/ (corroboration)
- https://interestingengineering.com/culture/south-east-asia-maritime-paleolithic-progress (corroboration)
- https://www.science.org/content/article/when-humans-first-plied-deep-blue-sea (corroboration)