Primitive stone tools recently excavated on the island of Crete indicate that pre-humans embarked on sea voyages as early as 800,000 years ago. The previous oldest evidence of seafaring was just 50,000 years old. Archaeologists found the quartz and chert artifacts embedded in 110,000- to 130,000-year-old coastal terraces, but they were probably ancient even when the terraces formed. The style of the tools matches those made 400,000 to 800,000 years ago in Africa, the researchers say, suggesting that the early hominins journeyed to Crete from there.