From sagas to voyages: Prospecting, agency, and the Paleolithic exploration of the Greek islands

Abstract

Demic dispersals of humans into new regions are often carried out in phases, some exploratory and others aimed at establishing a resident population. Here we propose that “prospecting” characterizes human and hominin behavior connected with the early exploratory phases of human migratory behavior. Along with behavioral epigenetic factors, prospecting is a form of agency and intentional action in human behavior that drove the exploration of previously uninhabited landscapes preceding the arrival of resident populations. Using the well-documented Norse exploration of the North Atlantic as a source of hypotheses, we consider the initial exploration of the Greek islands in the Paleolithic and consider the possibility that this exploration was based on prospecting as a risk-taking and novelty-seeking behavior that underpinned dangerous and logistically challenging sea crossings to oceanic islands in the Aegean Basin.