The existence of humans on Malta, a tiny Mediterranean island, during the Mesolithic period is puzzling. Archaeological evidence indicates that foragers occupied the Maltese islands between 8,500 and 7,500 years ago, and it is hypothesized that they arrived by sea. How did they survive over such an extended period, given the limited resources available on this small island?
James Blinkhorn and colleagues modeled the demographic and subsistence potential of Malta and Sicily from the terminal Pleistocene to the Holocene. The authors considered sea levels and fluctuations in vegetation productivity to estimate forager densities based on comparisons with recent ethnographic data. The work is published in PNAS Nexus.
Malta and Sicily became separate islands by about 14,200 years ago, and both shrank in area over time, with Malta eventually reaching its current size of 252 km2. The minimum sea-crossing distance between the islands reached 80 km (50 miles) within a millennium of their separation.
The predicted maximum population sizes for Malta following its disconnection from Sicily began at 419 individuals and dropped to 170 by 9,000 years ago—not long before the first evidence of human occupation. As this is well below the minimum population size for long-term viability, the authors conclude that the longevity of forager occupation on Malta must have relied on repeated, long-distance sea crossings.
Malta may have been a seasonal destination or occupied for longer periods. According to the authors, the prospect of seafaring Mesolithic hunter-gatherers has implications for the demographic and cultural world of the Mediterranean before farming, as well as for the origins of European hunter-gatherer ancestry in North Africa.
Publication details
James Blinkhorn et al, Life on the edge: Mesolithic population size and viability on Malta, PNAS Nexus (2026). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag234
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Citation: Mesolithic hunter-gatherers on Malta relied on repeated sea crossings, study suggests (2026, July 28) retrieved 28 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-mesolithic-hunter-malta-sea.html
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