Professor Rewrites History:

A team of archaeologists led by assistant professor of art history, Thomas Strasser, Ph.D., uncovered pre-historic tools on the Greek Island of Crete. The artifacts discovered suggest that species preceding man were able to navigate the seas earlier than once thought.
Strasser led his team in search of Mesolithic and Paleolithic artifacts that could be dated, particularly to early periods of pre-human species on Crete. Strasser invited a colleague from Boston University, professor of archaeology Curtis Runnels, Ph.D. who helped implicate a model for finding Mesolithic sites which focused on their need for water and cave shelters. In 2008, they officially began their search, bringing them to an area called the Preveli Gorge.

In June 2008, after the necessary permits were received, the team began looking in the gorge. They discovered scrapers, cores, blades, and other tools in nine different locations. One day, a member of the team discovered an Acheulean hand-ax.  Strasser concluded that the tools resembled that of the Homo erectus, a pre-human species that lived in Africa, or a variation of the species. They were the first tool building species to leave the continent and travel by land to Europe, China, and other areas. This discovery showed proof of the existence of Homo erectus on the island of Crete.

“We knew [the Homo erectus] traveled by land, but we did not know they could travel by water,” said Strasser. “During the ice age, the sea levels could have made the water recede and make the distance a little shorter, but there were no land bridges to travel on.”

With help, Strasser’s team used soil studies to date the artifacts. They discovered that the tools could not have been made any later than 130,000 years ago, but Strasser felt the tools were a lot older. According to Strasser, the quartz hand axs suggest that the artifacts could be up to 700,000 years old. With the tools being located in nine different areas, there is support that the species did not venture to the island once, but must have had the ability to plan continuous trips to Crete. The findings, Strasser felt, implemented the need to re-evaluate not only the travel of man’s preceding species, but also their cognitive abilities.

“Basically, this showed that our ancestors, though not as large brained, were seafarers,” he said. “The one question that is always asked, is if they had the cognitive ability, and apparently they did.”

Strasser and his team collected over 2,100 stone artifacts, all of which resembled the Archeulean tool style of Homo erectus. Strasser feels, however, that their work is nowhere near done. In order to discover the complete significance of the findings, they must accurately date the tools.

Strasser hopes to make a Web page that will show a 360-degree representation of the tools. This will allow more professionals to look at the artifacts, without making the trip to Greece. After receiving another permit to begin excavating the Mesolithic site, Strasser will be returning to Crete in 2011. He will be exploring the site to see what remains of the civilization, hoping to also discover carbon-14, which can be used to date artifacts.

Strasser spoke of student involvement in drawing their own representations of the tools, helping to create the Web page, and peer reviewing and writing for the article in Hesperia, the journal of The American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Strasser also mentioned the generosity of the school and its support for his research.

Helping Strasser in his explorations were undergraduate assistants from Providence College, Chad DiGregorio ’08, Natalie Cooper ’08, and Hannah Johnson ’10. Panayiotis Karakanes, Ph.D., geologist, Floyd McCoy, Ph.D., associate professor of geology and oceanography from the University of Hawaii, Pricilla Murray, Boston University research fellow, Eleni Panagopoulou, Ph.D., associate director of the Greek Ministry of Culture, and Karl Wegmann, Ph.D., assistant professor of geology from North Carolina State University also assisted Strasser with his project.