LAUSR

Abstract Paleolithic artifacts collected in the course of archaeological and geological surveys at particular islands of the NE Mediterranean have given birth to arguments for seaward Pleistocene dispersals. The consecutive implications for the seafaring abilities of archaic hominins have inevitably provoked an ongoing debate. The total lack of paleoanthropological evidence and, in most cases, the absence of a secure stratigraphic context leaves us with the only other pertinent tool of analysis, the stone tools. Preliminary reports presenting lithic collections from the islands have been published since at least the middle of the previous century, yet a coherent and critical review of the evidence has hitherto not been attempted. In the light of new paleogeographic reconstructions of the Aegean region, the already published collections are in this paper reviewed and evaluated in terms of their classifications and proposed cultural and chronological attributions and discussed in relation to the arguments for or against Pleistocene sea-crossings. Despite the scarcity of the evidence and the many problems associated with their documentation, context or interpretations, the lithic collections do provide specific information regarding the earliest sea-crossings in the region. Based on the available evidence, the majority of the artifacts collected from sites on islands that were most likely insular during parts of the Pleistocene have Middle Paleolithic technological and typological affinities, therefore an association with the Neanderthals is implied and the possible marine routes are proposed. Yet further research is needed in order to better appreciate the Greek Lower Paleolithic record, thus reevaluate the arguments for Lower Paleolithic sea-crossings in the Aegean.