Excavations yield high tech hunting tools

Archaeological excavations have yielded new evidence suggesting the existence of high-level maritime skills in ancient Asian communities. Profssor Sue O'Connor and her team of the Australian National University in Canberra found remains of tuna and other deep-water fish inside a cave on the Southeast Asian island of East Timor. Archeologists say the site dates back to 42,000 years ago, MSNBC reported. The team also found several artifacts at Jerimalai, near the eastern tip of East Timor that reveal ancient human hunting skills. Dating back to 24,000 years ago, the discovered old fishing lures indicate that the ancient humans were expert at catching the types of fish that would be challenging even today. "The hooks were definitely used for ocean fishing but we can't be sure which species," said O'Connor. "This is, we believe, the earliest known example of a fish hook and shows that our ancestors were skilled craftspeople as well as fishers. The hooks don't seem suitable for pelagic fishing, but it is possible that other types of hooks were being made at the same time," she added.