World

Study Hints At How Ancient Civilizations Traveled The World

Kay Smythe News and Commentary Writer
Font Size:

A study conducted by an American researcher at University of Wales suggested that ancient civilizations may have traveled using celestial navigation techniques.

Utilizing an analysis of maritime routes, skyscape simulations, archaeological dating, wind patterns, and material evidence from the ancient Minoan civilization, researcher Alessandro Berio hypothesized that the Mediterranean was traversed using significant nautical technologies. Evidence has emerged in recent years of maps that clearly show ancients were aware of the globe’s physical landscape, despite modern means of cartography only being dating to 1759.

“It is hypothesized that the orienting of palatial architecture toward star paths and specific sea lanes may have symbolized the special relationships between the palaces and distinct foreign emporia, while also being a source of legitimization of power for the local elite who controlled the ideological and technological frameworks of maritime knowledge,” Berio wrote in the paper.

Berio focused his research on the Minoan civilization, a Bronze Age Aegean peoples who lived on the island of Crete between 2600 – 1100 BC, according to Heritage Daily.

The central court at the Minoan trading center was perfectly aligned with the Pelusiac branch of the River Nile. The largest Minoan palace, Knossos, was aligned on a perfect “star path” with the constellation of Virgo and the trading hub of Sidon, the study noted. (RELATED: Mayan ‘Superhighways’ Suggest We Need To Rethink How Advanced Our Ancestors Really Were)

The finding could challenge the previous theory that Homer’s Odyssey was the first historical signal of celestial navigation. Once again, we have more evidence that we need to rewrite history and push back the timeline of human development.