Out of Africa and into America - H. erectus

 
Thinking about how our friend Homo erectus could have got in to America from his Old World home (the Bering route is very plausible but it is also cold and long), I wondered if H. erectus could have just come across the Atlantic Ocean from his original home in Africa.

I was aware of H. erectus sites along eastern Africa but did not know if there were any along the western coast of Africa (where they would have had to "set sail" for America). Well, the answer is yes, H. erectus did live in western Africa as shown in the map below: [1]

Above: Homo erectus occupation at 1 million years ago resulting from colonisation most consistent with the observed record of arrival (100%=black, 0%=white). From: [1]

You can see that they spanned Africa's Atlantic seaboard from Senegal to Angola. Could they have used simple log rafts to fish or move along the coast? Did a storm or sea currents drag them across the Atlantic?

A raft, wind and currents

The trade winds blow in a western direction in the Tropical Atlantic areas [2] and, the Southern Equatorial Current has a speed of about 1 meter / sec, which means that a raft would be pushed 86.4 km per day (53.7 miles/day) in a westerly direction. [2]

The current links the Gulf of Guinea and the easternmost point of Brazil (where the cities of Natal and Recife are located). The minimum distance between both continents is there, and is only 2,800 km (1,740) mi. Which at the speed given above would mean a voyage of about 32 days. Of course, the sea current does not traverse the Ocean at its narrowest point, so we could estimate a distance of about 5,000 km (3,107 mi) from the bottom of the Gulf of Guinea to Natal. This would take 58 days to cover.

The Atlantic has been crossed from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean by Dr. Hannes Lindeman in 1956, in 72 days, solo, in a kayak. So it is possible to cross the Ocean in flimsy craft and survive.[3]

See my post on the navigating abilities of H. erectus, who sailed across open stretches of sea in Indonesia some 800,000 years ago.


Additionally, the African Homo erectus, could explain the findings in Brazil (Lagoa Santa area) and Buenos Aires. The map below summarizes the route, the sites and the location:

Homo erectus a possible route from Africa to America across the Atlantic Ocean.
Copyright 2011 by Austin Whittall

Now, to survive, reproduce and grow enough to expand and move across the continent towards Buenos Aires and north, to Mexico, the group must have had females, and should have been quite large. Perhaps it was not a chance event, perhaps they embarked on an expedition and the winds and currents pushed them west.

Actually, the discovery of Brazil by Portuguese sailors in 1500 is attributed to this same effect: Pedro Alvarez de Cabral was sailing to India when a storm drove him away from his route.

My next post will summarize and index all my previous posts on H. erectus to make a simple entry point to access all the information. Future posts will also be referenced there.

Still, I have not found any references to unusual Patagonian skulls or remains. I will keep on searching.

Sources.

[1] Paul Valdes, Bruce Sellwood, Steve Mithen, Sam Smith, Alan Haywood, Sarah Elton and Hannah O'Regan, Advanced computer modelling of hominin dispersal from Africa: integrating archaeological and palaeoclimatic simulations. The Environmental Factors in the Chronology of Human Evolution & Dispersal programme (EFCHED). Natural Environment Research Council.
[2] S. G. Philander, (2001). Atlantic Ocean Equatorial Currents
[3] Hannes Lindeman (1957). Alone at sea for 72 days. The true story of a German doctor who sails and paddles a 17 foot kayak across the Atlantic Ocean. NSW Sea Kayaker vol. 41. Citing a Life Magazine Article (July 22, 1957).

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2011 International Year of Forests Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

More lake creatures at Lake Carrera (Buenos Aires)

 
Regarding Lake Buenos Aires (as it is known in Argentina) or Lake General Carrera (its Chilean name), I have come across some sightings besides the one already mentioned in my post on Lake Carrera creature.

One, by Walter Wellmann who says that is father, who navigated the lake most of his life daily, said that "he had never seen anything [...] except a kind of serpent that appeared on the surface and then was lost from sight".[1]

He too had an experience many years later: "at the Las Llaves sector, something about 5 to 6 meters [long] [15 to 18 ft.] that moved along the surface and was black; it looked like an overturned boat, with the hull upwards. Perhaps the same lake monster. If one tells others about this, they don't believe you".[1]

At a small lake close to Puerto Ibañez, by the lake, known as laguna Sepúlveda, is said to be home to a creature. According to Marisol Obrador, "there was a monster [..] very large and ugly".[1]

Panoramio photograph and map of Sepúlveda lagoon.

Bibliography.

[1] Irles, L. El Faro del Fin del Mundo. El monstruo del Lago General Carrera. 24.08.2009. Comments.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Creature at Lake Buenos Aires / General Carrera

 

Lake Buenos Aires / General Carrera, (46°28’ S, 71°34’ W) is shared by Argentina and Chile, and is the second largest lake in South America after Lake Titicaca. It has a surface area of 1.850 km² (715 sq. mi).

It is a deep windswept body of water that flows into the South Pacific Ocean, 140 km (87 mi) long and 24 km (15 mi) at its widest point.

In 1899, Doctor Santiago Roth of the La Plata Museum wrote that his Tehuelche guide, chief Kánkel had told him a story that he had heard from his grandfather about a “very fierce animal at Lake Buenos Aires […] it was very dangerous to go close to it. He described it saying that when it roared all the animals ran away and that once when he was hunting ostriches [ñandú – Rhea americana] close to the lake, it had killed a whole troop of horses”.[1]

He went on to remark that as the natives were very superstitious he paid no attention to the story until he noticed that Kánkel was terrified of going near
the lake; Roth finally forced him to go, but even so, he could not get him to go closer than 1 km [0.6 mi.] from its shores.[1]

Roth believed that the beast was an Iemisch[*] that the natives of his time only knew about through their folklore. When he asked if they have seen the creature they would reply “no, but I have been told by such and such an Indian or chief who has seen it”.[1]

[*] Iemisch: is a mythical aquatic creature said to live in Southern Patagonia. See our post on Iemisch.

Kánkel’s tribe camped at Senguer River just 160 km (100 mi) north of the lake. This river was also home to another terrible creature (or maybe the same one): Muster’s water tiger.

On the Chilean side, where the Lake’s name changes to General Carrera, in 2009, two locals reported “seeing the ‘lake monster’ again”. Apparently it was first sighted at the “Catedrales de Marmol”, a rock formation on the lake’s northern shore close to Puerto Tranquilo after Hudson Volcano’s 1991 eruption.

Another local, named Lautaro reported that after hearing splashing sounds in the lake, saw “a mysterious creature, about six meters [18 ft.] long […] it looked like a serpent […] had smooth skin in the front part of its body and with scales on its tail”.[2]

Bibliography.

[1] Hauthal, R., Roth, S., Lehmann-Nitsche, R. (1899). El mamifero misterioso de la Patagonia, Grypotherium domesticum. Revista del Museo de La Plata, v. ix. pp. 445.
[2] Irles L., (2009). El monstruo del Lago general Carrera. It has photographs (Spanish language blog) With my special thanks to Mr. Luis Irles.


Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters