 that, I will head straight into my presentation, which is pre-neurothic navigation in the Mediterranean. And navigation had to have occurred at least 800,000 years ago, if not earlier, when Homo Erectus navigated across the Wallislang in Indonesia to reach the islands of Flores, Timo and Broty. Yet the physical evidence for navigation is only about 10,000 years old. There is also ongoing debate as to whether Homo Erectus arrived in Europe via the Straits of Jakarta or via the Near Eastern Corridor, or both, about 1 million years ago. We can also point to the indirect evidence for navigation to the Mediterranean islands prior to the Holocene in that large endemic mammals, which probably arrived there when the Mediterranean last dried out about 5 million years ago, became extinct subject to subsequent to the arrival of Homo Sapiens. There is no evidence for pre-neurothic visits to the Balearic Islands, which is the only island group west of Corsica and Sardinia, which we will refer to as Cor Sardinia, since they have been regularly united by the now shadow Straits of Bonifacio. In the Eastern Mediterranean Cyprus, visible from the mainland, has always been an island. It was not visited by humans until the PPN, or just prior, primarily evidenced by the continuing existence of its diminutive Pachyderms and hippopotami, until these were rapidly exterminated after the first visit by humans about 11,000 BC. Its colonisation has been the subject of intensive and interesting recent research, which will not be treated here. The focus of this presentation will therefore be on the central Mediterranean. To understand the pre-neurothic navigation to Mediterranean islands, it is first important to understand the changes in the bathymetry of the Mediterranean after the last glacial maximum, when the sea levels were 120 to 130 metres lower than today. Between marine isotope stages 4 and 3, 70 to 20,000 years ago, the sea level fluctuated between 60 and 80 metres below current sea levels. This picture shows here, shown here, reflects the coastline at the last glacial maximum, as stated, east fluctuated over time prior to and after this date. In the Aegean, and I'm moving from the top to the bottom, Imbrason Lemnos were attached to Anatolia at the last glacial maximum, but only for relatively short periods of time. In the northern Spiratis, the north-eastern group, including Eura, has always been separated from Alonissos by a deep channel. Kethnos has always been an island, Icaria was attached just, Maxos formed part of a large island group in the centre of the Aegean, Melas has always been an island, and the small island of Chiali, source of poor quality obsidian, was possibly an island, just. Talki was an island attached to roads, and Crete has always been an island with Gavnos about 46 kilometres to the south. In the Ionian Sea, Cephalonia and Zacintos have always been separated from the mainland, and in Sicily, with a minimum present-day depth of 90 metres at the northern end of the Straits of Messina, was probably attached to Italy, although tectonic activity does not make this an insured conclusion. In the Tyranian Sea, Corsadena has always been separated from the Tuscany archipelago by a channel over 10 kilometres wide, and in the Adriatic, the northern Adriatic plain extended south to Ancona, just south south of Ancona, and the mid-Adriatic island of Palagrusa off the map, that island has always been an island. This was an important stepping stone, almost virtually between eastern and the western shores. This island is equidistant between Croatia and Italy. It belongs to Croatia, and is not a tourist resort. During the early Paleolithic, prior to 250,000 years ago, at the time of Homo erectus, Homo hydropagensis, in the Sardinian Prophets of Sasseri, in the region of Betfugas, several open air sites, mainly along river courses, have yielded early Paleolithic material, variously described as Platonian or Ashilem. The best known site is that of Sacoa de Sarmulta, which has been extensively excavated, and the materials have been typologically dated to 300,000 years ago. A supposed Homo erectus phalange, estimated to date from 300,000 to 250,000 years ago, found at Crota Nuriqe near Keremule in 1996, has been proven not to be human, and the occupation of Corbedo cave east of Nura, in east central Sardinia, is possible, questioned. In Sicily, Pactonian, Ashilem-like material has been found in the eastern provinces of Catania, and Syracuse, with most found on Pluvian terraces of the river Simeto, as well as several sites further south. Their attribution is however questionable, since the material also resembles Bronze Age expedient tools. This map of Greece shows the known middle and upper Paleolithic sites in the southern Balkans, putting into context those middle Paleolithic Homo neanditalis sites found in island settings. The site of Eskino on Cochiada Imbrus has produced middle Paleolithic as well as late Paleolithic material. Whether the now islands will walk to and navigate to is impossible to specify. In the northern Sparadis, on Alonissos, Urea, Urea and six other islands, lithic material, lithic scatters, evidence has been found by Adamantius Samson. On Maxus, these theory tools manufactured using the Levalua technique has been discovered, have been discovered on Stilida, at Stilida, in the ongoing excavations in a church quarry on the west side of the island by a team led by Tristan Carter. Cephalonia and Sakintos have produced lithic scatters dated between 110 and 35,000 years ago, and on Crete between Placias and Agios Pavdolos on the south coast, tools dated 130 to 45 to 35,000 years ago were discovered by the team led by Curtis Reynolds and Thomas Fassler between 2008 and 2009. And finally on Gavlos, tools snapped during the early Mysterion and using the early Mysterion and Mysterion Levalua technique have been found dating from as early as 120,000 years ago. A detailed showing, a detailed map of the northern Sparads, middle Paleolithic and pre-Neolithic sites in the northern Sparads, most by and in the form of lithic scatters, which are difficult to date. Note that the islands would have been larger when visited or occupied, and those at the western end of the chain were probably attached to the mainland. We'll come back to the cave of Cyclops a little later. On Corsardinia, a middle Paleolithic site is thought to have been identified at Corsca Cave, but its tract attribution has been contested. The occupation of Grote Corpidu uncontestedly dates to the middle Paleolithic. And what is important to note is that it's almost certainly through Corsica that people arrived in Sardinia because of, it's visible from the coast, whereas Sardinia is much less visible. And obviously the sea crossing is considerably longer. The Aegean evidence for navigation by Homo sapiens during the upper Paleolithic and post-glacial prior to the Neolithic is extensive, so whilst I'm showing you this map with many red dots, I will only mention a few. Melos had to be visited during the Lake Pleistocene as evidence by the obsidian found at French decay from a level dated about that 13,000 BC. Merulising on Kithnos and the cave of Cyclops on Europe, both excavated by Adamantius Samson, are interesting cases. Kithnos was colonised at 9,000 BC by navigators coming from the Near East when sea levels were 29 meters below the present day level. They imported suites in the process of domestication and let them loose to be hunted. So this is a somewhat similar case to that of Cyprus. The built circular semi-sunken huts at Merulas buried their dead at Cork. They built circular semi-sunken huts at Merulas buried their dead according to Near Eastern traditions in a crouched fetal position and possibly traded Melian obsidian. Europe was colonised about 8,000 BC by navigators originating again from the Near East, also importing suites which they let loose. When these did not prosper, they imported goats which is still there. Crete, several Mesolithic sites have been identified on the south coast of Crete between Clacles and Adios Pablos by a team led by Curtis Reynolds and Thomas Sassar in between 2008 and 2009 and this is complemented by a site further east near Mount Capca. On Capdos, a single find of a micro-ethic black flint trapezoidal transversal arrowhead made from a blade segment typologically dated to the final Mesolithic, a 7th millennium BC suggests that this small island 46 kilometers south of Crete was visited by Mesolithic from De Galeris. There are numerous pre-Neolithic sites in Sicily, most of which are coastal or near coastal as identified by the red dots. Some of these date from prior to the Holocene such as the caves of San Teodoro and Adara Cave on the north coast and the Calla di Genovezzi on the now island of Livanzo or Livanzo. On Corsica, eight Mesolithic sites have been identified split between the north and the south of the island and I won't read them to you because nobody will remember the names and on Sardinia there are four identified Mesolithic sites. There is indirect evidence for maritime contacts through contemporaneous similarities in the lithic traditions prior to the Mesolithic across open waters between the Bay of Antalya region in southern Anatolia and western Greece and between the Italian Romanelian and that on the Balkans in a direct line across the Adriatic Sea via the island of Canagrusa. Finally, I would mention the puzzling presence of a few shards of coarse pottery at Grotta del Uzzo in Sicily dated between 7000 and 6500 dc. So how did these people navigate along the coast or across open waters? There is no hard evidence but dugouts existed in the Mesolithic. Read boats are a possibility as on rafts or maybe all of the above were used. Who knows? Thank you.