Sailing to Ryukyu

In this episode we explore the ecology of the North Pacific Rim with Jon Erlandson, and specifically, the idea that kelp ecosystems may have acted much like a highway into the Americas, providing early coastal and maritime hunter-gatherers with familiar, dense, and predictable resources almost continuously from Japan all the way to the southern tip of South America**Please do not forget to rate and review the show** Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page. Key IdeasCoastal Migration HypothesisKelp Highway Hypothesis Key PeopleJon Erlandson Key PlacesDaisy CaveChannel IslandsManis Mastodon SiteGault SiteDebra L. FriedkinPage-LadsenPaisley CavesMonte Verde   Further ReadingBraje, Todd J., Jon M. Erlandson, Torben C. Rick, Loren Davis, Tom Dillehay, Daryl W. Fedje, Duane Froese et al. "Fladmark+ 40: What have we learned about a potential Pacific Coast peopling of the Americas?." American Antiquity 85, no. 1 (2020): 1-21.Braje, Todd J., Tom D. Dillehay, Jon M. Erlandson, Richard G. Klein, and Torben C. Rick. “Finding the First Americans.” Science 358, no. 6363 (2017): 592–594.Erlandson, Jon M., Todd J. Braje, Kristina M. Gill, and Michael H. Graham. “Ecology of the Kelp Highway: Did Marine Resources Facilitate Human Dispersal from Northeast Asia to the Americas?” The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 10, no. 3 (2015): 392–411.Erlandson, Jon M., Michael H. Graham, Bruce J. Bourque, Debra Corbett, James A. Estes, and Robert S. Steneck. “The Kelp Highway Hypothesis: Marine Ecology, the Coastal Migration Theory, and the Peopling of the Americas.” The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 2, no. 2 (2007): 161–174.Gonzalez-Aragon, Daniel, Carola Flores, Felipe I. Torres, and Bernardo R. Broitman. “Tracing the Kelp Highway Hypothesis in South America: Poleward Shifts in Kelp Past Distribution and Archaeological Evidence of Human Use.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 13 (2025): 1720175.Steneck, Robert S., Michael H. Graham, Bruce J. Bourque, Debbie Corbett, Jon M. Erlandson, James A. Estes, and Mia J. Tegner. “Kelp Forest Ecosystems: Biodiversity, Stability, Resilience and Future.” Environmental Conservation 29, no. 4 (2002): 436–459.Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

How do you test how people reached Okinawa more than 30,000 years ago? Build a log boat using only Paleolithic stone tools, then paddle it from Taiwan to the Ryukyu Islands. This week, we talk to Prof. Yousuke Kaifu about the extraordinary project he led to explore how prehistoric people could have made a voyage that, even today, seems improbable. It’s a fascinating discussion about their trials-and-errors to build a boat that could handle the open ocean and their journey to cross one of the world’s biggest ocean currents.  **Please do not forget to rate and review the show** Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page. Key People and ProjectsYousuke KaifuHolistic Reenactment Project WebsiteThe University Museum, The University of TokyoKey PlacesTaiwanYonaguni IslandRyukyu Island ChainKuroshio Current   Further ReadingChang, Y.L.K., Miyazawa, Y., Guo, X., Varlamov, S., Yang, H. and Kaifu, Y., 2025. Traversing the Kuroshio: Paleolithic migration across one of the world’s strongest ocean currents. Science Advances, 11(26), p.eadv5508. Kaifu, Y., Lin, C.H., Ikeya, N., Yamada, M., Iwase, A., Chang, Y.L.K., Uchida, M., Hara, K., Amemiya, K., Sung, Y. and Suzuki, K. (2025) ‘Paleolithic seafaring in East Asia: An experimental test of the dugout canoe hypothesis’, Science Advances, 11(26), article eadv5507.Kaifu, Y. (2022) ‘A synthetic model of Palaeolithic seafaring in the Ryukyu Islands, southwestern Japan’, World Archaeology, 54(2), pp. 187–206.Kaifu, Y., Ishikawa, J., Muramatsu, M., Kokubugata, G. and Goto, A. (2022) ‘Establishing the efficacy of reed-bundle rafts in the paleolithic colonization of the Ryukyu Islands’, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 17(4), pp. 571–584.Kaifu, Y., Kuo, T.H., Kubota, Y. and Jan, S. (2020) ‘Palaeolithic voyage for invisible islands beyond the horizon’, Scientific Reports, 10(1), article 19785.Kaifu, Y., Lin, C.H., Goto, A., Ikeya, N., Yamada, M., Chiang, W.C., Fujita, M. et al. (2019) ‘Palaeolithic seafaring in East Asia: testing the bamboo raft hypothesis’, Antiquity, 93(372), pp. 1424–1441.Kaifu, Y. and Fujita, M. (2012) ‘Fossil record of early modern humans in East Asia’, Quaternary International, 248, pp. 2–11.Video DocumentaryDon’t forget to also check out the video documentary of their journey: CLICK HERE.Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

We're taking a small detour this week to talk about the role of voyaging and the embodied knowledge of seafaring that has been collected and passed down for generations among modern communities all across the Pacific.  It's a perspective that isn't so much about the past rather than how the past shapes the present and future. **Please do not forget to rate and review the show**Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page. Key PeopleH. Larry RaigetalAlson KelenJoseph Genz Key PlacesPiti Sea FestivalGuamLamotrekMarshall IslandsMicronesia  OrganizationsWaan Aelõñ in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Island) Waa’gey  Special thank you to Uriah Aguon and Jae James at the Pacific Daily News for permission to use their footage of the Piti Sea FestivalClick here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” to send us an SMS.Before Us Kids! If you or your kids want to learn more about Denisvans then check out "Our faceless ancestors no more." This fun-filled, kid-friendly episode explores the Denisovans and the discovery that finally put a face to the name. Click here for a direct link.More information about Before Us Kids! From the creators of the Before Us podcast comes an exciting new adventure: Before Us Kids! This brand-new, fun, and engaging podcast is co-hosted by kids, for kids, and takes young listeners on a journey through deep time to discover the lives of the people who came before us. Each episode brings the past to life with fascinating stories, interesting facts, and lively--sometimes chaotic--conversations that spark curiosity and imagination. Whether it's exploring ancient civilizations, uncovering everyday life in the distant past, or diving into the big questions about human evolution, Before Us Kids! makes our past come alive in a way that's entertaining and easy to understand. Before Us Kids! is perfect for curious minds of all ages. Webpage | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon MusicFurther ReadingXing, S., Wu, Z., Shao, Q. et al. The proteome of Middle Pleistocene Xujiayao and common Denisovan morphology. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11132-z Fieldhouse, R. This is what the mysterious Denisovans looked like: Archaeologists identified skull fragments from China as belonging to this group of ancient human relatives. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-03360-0Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

Fossil and genetic evidence shows that eastern Asia was a hotspot of diversity for the genus Homo during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Homo erectus, Denisovans (Homo longi and Homo juluensis) / Neanderthals, Homo floresiensis, and Homo Luzonensis were all present at one point or another. But when did modern humans arrive from Africa? In this episode, we talk to Fabrice Demeter about excavations at Tam Pa Ling cave in Laos, where his team has uncovered a rich fossil record documenting some of the earliest known modern humans in Southeast Asia. These discoveries place modern humans in the region as early as 86,000 years ago, with further evidence of their presence until around 54,000 years ago. Yet these early arrivals may have been part of a dispersal that ultimately failed, leaving little, if any, genetic trace in present-day populations. **Please do not forget to rate and review the show** Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page. Key PeopleDr. Fabrice Demeter Key PlacesTam Pa LingTam HangTam Ngu Hao 2 Key SpeciesHomo sapiensHomo erectusDenisovansHomo juluensisHomo longi Further ReadingDemeter, Fabrice, Clément Zanolli, Kira E. Westaway, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Philippe Duringer, Mike W. Morley, Frido Welker et al. "A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite chain of northern Laos." Nature communications 13, no. 1 (2022): 2557.Demeter, Fabrice, Laura Shackelford, Kira Westaway, Lani Barnes, Philippe Duringer, Jean-Luc Ponche, Jean Dumoncel et al. "Early modern humans from Tam Pà Ling, Laos: fossil review and perspectives." Current Anthropology 58, no. S17 (2017): S527-S538.Demeter, Fabrice, Laura Shackelford, Kira Westaway, Philippe Duringer, Anne-Marie Bacon, Jean-Luc Ponche, Xiujie Wu et al. "Early modern humans and morphological variation in Southeast Asia: fossil evidence from Tam Pa Ling, Laos." PLoS One 10, no. 4 (2015): e0121193.Freidline, Sarah E., Kira E. Westaway, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Philippe Duringer, Jean-Luc Ponche, Mike W. Morley, Vito C. Hernandez et al. "Early presence of Homo sapiens in southeast Asia by 86–68 kyr at Tam Pà Ling, Northern Laos." Nature communications 14, no. 1 (2023): 3193.Milano, Stefania, Fabrice Demeter, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Philippe Duringer, Elise Patole-Edoumba, Jean-Luc Ponche, Laura Shackelford et al. "Environmental conditions framing the first evidence of modern humans at Tam Pà Ling, Laos: A stable isotope record from terrestrial gastropod carbonates." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 511 (2018): 352-363.Shackelford, Laura, Fabrice Demeter, Kira Westaway, Philippe Duringer, Jean-Luc Ponche, Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy, Jian-Xin Zhao et al. "Additional evidence for early modern human morphological diversity in Southeast Asia at Tam Pa Ling, Laos." Quaternary International 466 (2018): 93-106. Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page.Before Us Kids! If you or your kids want to learn more about Denisvans then check out "Our faceless ancestors no more." This fun-filled, kid-friendly episode explores the Denisovans and the discovery that finally put a face to the name. Click here for a direct link.More information about Before Us Kids! From the creators of the Before Us podcast comes an exciting new adventure: Before Us Kids! This brand-new, fun, and engaging podcast is co-hosted by kids, for kids, and takes young listeners on a journey through deep time to discover the lives of the people who came before us. Each episode brings the past to life with fascinating stories, interesting facts, and lively--sometimes chaotic--conversations that spark curiosity and imagination. Whether it's exploring ancient civilizations, uncovering everyday life in the distant past, or diving into the big questions about human evolution, Before Us Kids! makes our past come alive in a way that's entertaining and easy to understand. Before Us Kids! is perfect for curious minds of all ages. Webpage | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon MusicFurther ReadingBae, Christopher. The Paleoanthropology of Eastern Asia. (2024). University of Hawaii PressRao, H., Xing, S., Ruan, Q. et al. Ancient proteins identify various Denisovan remains from Southwest China. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10976-9 Ruan, Q., Li, H., Xing, S. et al. Denisovans from southwestern China and their subsistence strategies. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10997-4 Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

Asia plays a central role in the story of human evolution and recent cutting-edge research shows that eastern Asia was home to a variety of archaic human species that were still present by the time modern humans arrived during the late Pleistocene. In this episode, Prof. Christopher Bae leads us on a fascinating journey of the paleoanthropology and archaeology of eastern Asia to understand the complex biogeographic landscape that greeted those earliest modern humans. **Please do not forget to rate and review the show**Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page. Key PeopleProf. Christopher Bae Key PlacesXujiayaoXujiangHarbinDenisova CaveHuanglong (Hualongdong) Cave Key SpeciesHomo erectusDenisovansHomo juluensisHomo longi Further ReadingBae, Christopher. The Paleoanthropology of Eastern Asia. (2024). University of Hawaii PressBae, Christopher J., and Xiujie Wu. "Making sense of eastern Asian Late Quaternary hominin variability." nature communications 15, no. 1 (2024): 9479.Feng, Xiaobo, et al. "The phylogenetic position of the Yunxian cranium elucidates the origin of Homo longi and the Denisovans." Science 389.6767 (2025): 1320-1324.Fu, Qiaomei, Peng Cao, Qingyan Dai, E. Andrew Bennett, Xiaotian Feng, Melinda A. Yang, Wanjing Ping, Svante Pääbo, and Qiang Ji. "Denisovan mitochondrial DNA from dental calculus of the> 146,000-year-old Harbin cranium." Cell 188, no. 15 (2025): 3919-3926.Rao, H., Xing, S., Ruan, Q., Bai, F., Zhao, Y., Wu, Z., Tang, S., Andrew Bennett, E., Feng, X., Lin, S. and Shao, Q., 2026. Ancient proteins identify various Denisovan remains from Southwest China. Nature, pp.1-7Tsutaya, Takumi, Rikai Sawafuji, Alberto J. Taurozzi, Zandra Fagernäs, Ioannis Patramanis, Gaudry Troché, Meaghan Mackie et al. "A male Denisovan mandible from Pleistocene Taiwan." Science 388, no. 6743 (2025): 176-180.Yang, Shi-Xia, María Martinón-Torres, and Michael Petraglia. "Palaeoanthropological evidence from China is changing the picture of hominin evolutionary history." Nature Ecology & Evolution 10.4 (2026): 634-640.Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

As modern humans spread across the world along coastlines and waterways during the Late Pleistocene, they encountered a remarkable variety of coastal environments, each with its own resources and challenges. In this episode, we explore one of the seemingly least hospitable coastal environments: maritime deserts. We discuss Boodie Cave on Barrow Island, off Australia’s northwest coast, with Tiina Manne from the University of Queensland to discover how people adapted their knowledge to this demanding environment and thrived there for tens of thousands of years.**Please do not forget to rate and review the show!**Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page. Key PeopleTiina ManneKey PlacesBoodie CaveBarrow IslandFurther ReadingWard, Ingrid, et al. "50,000 years of archaeological site stratigraphy and micromorphology in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island, Western Australia." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 15 (2017): 344-369. Skippington, Jane, Tiina Manne, and Peter Veth. "Isotopic indications of late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoenvironmental changes at Boodie Cave archaeological site, Barrow Island, Western Australia." Molecules 26.9 (2021): 2582. Veth, Peter, et al. "Early human occupation of a maritime desert, Barrow Island, North-West Australia." Quaternary Science Reviews 168 (2017): 19-29. Veth, Peter, Ingrid Ward, and Tiina Manne. "Coastal feasts: a Pleistocene antiquity for resource abundance in the maritime deserts of north west Australia?." The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 12.1 (2017): 8-23. Veth, Peter, et al. "The archaeology of Montebello Islands, north-west Australia: late Quaternary foragers on an arid coastline." (2007). Veth, Peter, Kane Ditchfield, and Fiona Hook. "Maritime deserts of the Australian northwest." Australian Archaeology 79.1 (2014): 156-166. Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

As modern humans spread across the world at the end of the Pleistocene, they learned to survive in a remarkable range of environments. How did those hunter-gatherers preserve their knowledge and pass it on from one generation to the next? In this episode, Helen and Erich speak with Patrick Nunn to explore the role of oral history, myths, and storytelling in the preservation of knowledge among preliterate societies.  Welcome back to a new season of Before Us! **Please do not forget to rate and review the show!**Have a question or comment? Email: [email protected]: https://www.reddit.com/r/BeforeUsMedia/Or click “Send us a message!” at the top of this page. Key PeoplePatrick NunnKey PlacesBackstairs PassagePentecost Island, Vanuatu Further ReadingNunn, Patrick. Whispers from Celtic seas: the true meanings of ancient stories from Northwest Europe. Reaktion Books, Limited, 2026.Nunn, Patrick D., et al. "Calibrating Holocene human–environment interactions using ancient narratives: The example of Ngurunderi in South Australia." Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 20.3 (2025): 563-587.Nunn, Patrick. Worlds in shadow: Submerged lands in science, memory and myth. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.Nunn, Patrick. The edge of memory: ancient stories, oral tradition and the post-glacial world. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.Walshe, Rory A., and Patrick D. Nunn. "Integration of indigenous knowledge and disaster risk reduction: A case study from Baie Martelli, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu." International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 3.4 (2012): 185-194. Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.

A new season of Before Us premieres Tuesday, September 29, 2026! Join us as we  as we explore the remarkable human story behind the world we know today. We are continuing to explore humanity’s enduring relationship with aquatic resources and how coastlines and waterways helped shape our remarkable expansion worldwide. This season, we follow the movement of modern humans through Southeast and East Asia, around the North Pacific Rim, and into North and South America, uncovering the epic story of the Peopling of the Americas. This season will be bigger and more amazing than ever before. We've lined up leading scientists and communities from around the world to provide the most current insights on archaeology, genetics, linguistics, mythology, dog domestication, skin-boat technology, and so more. If you enjoy this show then don’t forget to rate and review us! Have a question? Send us an email at [email protected]  Click here to send us a message!Before Us is produced by Worlds Before LLC. Erich Fisher writes and produces each episode and handles sound design and editing. Helen Farr co-hosts and contributes with writing and producing. Ian Laurence composed the theme song. The voices of our hosts and guests are real and have not been generated by AI.