Beyond the Blue Horizon

When and why did prehistoric people decide to venture out upon the world's oceans? What were their motivations for traveling across such large expanses in primitive vessels? In this enthralling work, Fagan (anthropology, emeritus, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Cro-Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans) attempts to answer these questions, examining seafaring traditions in a number of world regions. He begins with early voyaging in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, then covers a long span of prehistoric seafaring in the Mediterranean world, the Indian Ocean, northern Europe, and among Pacific coast Native Americans in North, Central, and South America. Fagan effectively intersperses observations from his own extensive sailing experience as he ponders how ancient mariners might have responded to various sea conditions and what may have initially caused them to take to the sea.