A study published in mid-August found that humans had the technology to cross the Pacific Ocean around 50,000 years ago.

Researchers working in the Moloro Cave, a giant limestone cave on Waigeo island in West Papua, have discovered several layers of human habitation within the structure. According to According to a study published in the journal Antiquity, stone tools, animal bones, shells and charcoal are discarded remains of ancient humans dating back 55,000 years. One key find is a type of resin produced at the time, the first time it has been found outside Africa.

The use of resin suggests that humans were developing complex technologies far outside of Africa. Although the use of resin is unknown, researchers suggest that it may have been fuel for fire, demonstrating our ancestors' adaptability to new environments. Plant processing and involvement in a variety of tropical and coastal ecosystems have been recorded, indicating the unknown extent of human capabilities and spread at that time.

Research shows humans lived near West Papua at least 55,000 years ago https://t.co/LDCGS1K8S1

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The researchers found that a singleRigging ModelThis model holds that rather than humans evolving in parallel in different environments around the world (the multiregional model), modern humans all originated in Africa around 200,000 to 300,000 years ago.

“The Moloro excavations help shed light on the precise timing of human migration into the Pacific Ocean, a period that is hotly debated because it has major implications for how rapidly humans spread from Africa into Asia and Oceania,” the authors said. Written From an article on Live Science. (Related: Archaeological discovery rewrites what we know about Neanderthals)

If the single-origin model of human dispersal is correct, the study authors devise a hypothetical route through the northern Indian Ocean sea route (which may have been very different 50,000 years ago) that would have seen humans move south to West Papua and then migrate to Australia, rather than the other way around. Either way, the study contributes to a growing body of data suggesting that our ancient ancestors were much more advanced than large-scale archaeology typically acknowledges.