L1Finding fossil manWecanreadof thingsthathappened5,000yearsago in theNearEast,wherepeoplefirstlearnedto write
Buttherearesome partsof theworldwhereevennowpeoplecannotwrite
Theonlywaythattheycanpreservetheirhistoryis to recountitassagas----legendshandeddownfromone generationof storytellersto another
Theselegendsareusefulbecausetheycantell ussomethingaboutmigrationsofpeoplewholivedlong ago,butnonecouldwritedownwhattheydid
Anthropologistswonderedwheretheremoteancestorsof thePolynesianpeoplesnowlivingin thePacificIslandscamefrom
Thesagasof thesepeopleexplainthatsome of themcamefromIndonesiaabout2,000yearsago
Butthefirstpeoplewhowerelikeourselveslivedso long ago thateventheirsagas,if theyhadany,areforgotten
So archaeologistshaveneitherhistorynorlegendsto helpthemto findoutwherethefirst'mo