The patterns of dispersal of early humans across continents and islands are hotly debated, but researchers have found that Pleistocene hunter-gatherers settled in Cyprus thousands of years earlier than previously thought.
In examining the timing of the first human occupation of Cyprus, research led by Flinders University’s Professor Corey Bradshaw found that large islands in the Mediterranean Sea were attractive and favourable destinations for palaeolithic peoples.
These findings refute previous studies that suggested Mediterranean islands would have been unreachable and inhospitable for Pleistocene hunter-gatherer societies.
Professor Bradshaw, with Dr Theodora Moutsiou, Dr Christian Reepmeyer and others, used archaeological data, climate estimates, and demographic modelling to reveal the early peopling of Cyprus.
Analysis of archaeological dating from the 10 oldest sites across Cyprus suggested first human occupation between 14,257 and 13,182 years ago, which is much earlier than previously thought.
The researchers say the island was then rapidly settled. Climate modelling indicated that this early peopling coincided with increases in temperature, precipitation, and environmental productivity sufficient to sustain large hunter-gatherer populations.
Based on demographic modelling, the authors suggest that large groups of hundreds to thousands of people arrived on Cyprus in two to three main migration events in less than 100 years.
“This settlement pattern implies organised planning and the use of advanced watercraft,” says Professor Bradshaw.
Within 300 years, or 11 generations, the population of Cyprus had expanded to a median of 4,000–5,000 people.
Dr Moutsiou says the results demonstrate that, rather than being inhospitable, Cyprus and perhaps other Mediterranean islands would have been attractive destinations for palaeolithic hunter-gatherer societies.
“It has been argued that human dispersal to and settlement of Cyprus and other eastern Mediterranean islands is attributed to demographic pressures on the mainland after abrupt climatic change saw coastal areas inundated by post-glacial sea-level rise, forcing farming populations to move to new areas out of necessity rather than choice.”
