What do boats have to do with language?
A lot!
Human beings have been using boats to travel for at least 50,000 years. That’s 50,000 years of fishing, sailing, exploring, and migration. And among the many things ancient peoples brought with them on their boats were, of course, the languages that they spoke.
The oldest actual boat ever found is about 7000 years old, so how do we know that people were using boats long before that? That’s simple: we know, for example, that human beings have been living in Australia for at least 50,000 years, and the only way their ancestors could have arrived was by boat. They would have needed a rich vocabulary to plan and embark on journeys, and the creative and intellectual impetus to name and analyse the things they encountered when they arrived at new locations.
Researchers have various tools at their disposal to figure out the likely routes these ancient seafarers took: the archaeological record, DNA and, sometimes, languages. For example, the Polynesian languages spoken in the various islands of the area provide vital clues and how, when, and by whom various places were settled by seafarers of old.
Photo Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/white-sail-boat-on-body-of-water-during-sunset-U45J8RWFWvA
