Beyond the Blue Horizon: How the Earliest Mariners Unlocked the Secrets of the Oceans

by Brian M. Fagan

In "Beyond the Blue Horizon," bestselling science historian Brian Fagan tackles his richest topic the enduring mystery of the oceans, the planet's most forbidding terrain.This is not a tale of Columbus or Hudson, but of much earlier mariners. From the moment when ancient Polynesians first dared to sail beyond the horizon, Fagan vividly explains how our mastery of the oceans has changed history, even before history was written. "Beyond the Blue Horizon" delves into the very beginnings of humanity's long and intimate relationship with the sea. It willl enthrall readers who enjoyed "Longitude," Simon Winchester's "Atlantic," or in its scope and its insightful linking of technology and culture, Guns, Germs, and Steel. What drove humans to risk their lives on open water? How did early sailors unlock the secrets of winds, tides, and the stars they steered by? What were the earliest ocean crossings like? With compelling detail, Brian Fagan reveals how seafaring evolved so that the vast realms of the sea gods were transformed from barriers into highways that hummed with commerce. Indeed, for most of human history, oceans have been the most vital connectors of far-flung societies. From bamboo rafts in the Java Sea to the caravels of the Age of Discovery, from Easter Island to Crete, Brian Fagan crafts a captivating narrative of humanity's urge to seek out distant shores, of the daring men and women who did so, and of the mark they have left on civilization.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Anthropology, Archaeology, Nature, Ancient History

393 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2004

About the author

Brian Murray Fagan was a British author of popular archaeology books and a professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fagan cautions, early in his introduction, that there are at least two approaches to reading Beyond the Blue Horizon:
1. You can start at Chapter 1 and read through to the end;, or
2. You can can choose a section devoted to a particular place on the globe, finish it and chose another.

I liked the latter. I bounced around soaking up some great insights Fagan offers as an archaeologist, sailor and historian. Whether talking about indigenous tribes navigating the coast of Germany or Alaska or the Norse setting off for Iceland, he had my attention.

Yes, there is repetition from section to section as humans find similar solutions to challenges. Yes, there is speculation (most of it based on science) as he explores why people are willing to head away from familiar landmarks into the deep blue sea.

Fagan did a great job of open my eyes to the accomplishments of previous generations and to placing many of the things we take for granted in firm historical context. His style is easy on the reader and his approach makes it easy to pick up the book, read a few pages and feel rewarded. Very entertaining when taken in small bites.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brian Fagan, for all the time he spends on boats, is remarkably prolific. Beyond the Blue Horizon is a general book about how ancient peoples around the world learned to venture out on the oceans. Quite often he notes, and dwells on his own experience. While some writers do this well, I found it a little distracting here. It’s like being constantly reminded that “I’m a man who made it, and I have the leisure to go sailing with my good-paying university job awaiting me when I return.” It doesn’t help that he lapses into old salt talk when referring to ships. Some of us just want to know the history.

Quite a few of the books I’ve posted on here deal with the oceans. I grew up landlocked and didn’t even see the ocean until I was in grad school. (And I never succeeded in the academy.) Still, I’ve always been enamored of the oceans. Early in life I read Rachel Carson’s The Sea Around Us and it’s still one of my favorite books. If I couldn’t see the ocean, at least I could dream about it. Fagan takes the reader around the globe to several locations where archaeology has revealed enough to reconstruct how people without compasses or clocks came to navigate open water. This is the real heart of the book.

I discuss the religion part elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), but this is the view of a lifelong anthropologist trying to make sense of how peoples came to know there was land somewhere out there, and that land could be accessed by learning to cross oceans. Interestingly, people far removed from each other came up with similar technologies to face the depths. Fagan’s insights lend detail to the imagination that tries to understand what it means to go out of the sight of land, never certain that you’ll be able to return.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title mentions, this is about how the earliest mariners navigated the world's oceans before compasses and charts. We are speaking of the famous Polynesian explorers who populated the islands of the South Pacific, the Phoenicians, and the early trade between Ancient Egypt, Babylonian, and Indus civilizations as an example. A lot of the material is speculation as there are very few archeological remains of boats. One must turn to artifacts such as pottery, beads and ores and determine their original provenance to determine the ancient marine trade routes. As to how they did, it was by understanding and observing the natural world from weather, waves and flora and fauna. They also studied the celestial bodies to navigate the waters. Polynesian seafarers were experts and identifying waves that were reflected waves from land in the middle of the ocean as well as noting the types of fish and birds. It got a bit repetitive as the how and why (trade was the biggest factor) were similar to all societies around the world that travelled on water.
What interested me the most was how the areas climate combined with the body of water created the types of ships developed. As a sailor and enthusiast for history of sail I had wondered why oars were so prevalent and persistent in the Mediterranean, and North Atlantic sea (ie Roman triremes, Viking Knorrs) and yet unheard of in the Pacific or Indian Ocean seafaring cultures. Both the Indian Ocean and South Pacific climate encourages very predictable and steady winds in the form of trade winds and monsoon. These winds blow steadily in 1 direction for months on end and then they reverse direction with the season. One can travel in one direction and then wait to return to the original location, thus one cannot get lost. This combined with smooth seas, it made travelling in the open ocean with sail easy. The Mediterranean Sea on the other hand had no such reliable breezes, prolonged calms and storms that were frequent and unpredictable. This made the neccesity of having paddles or oars to get you to were you want to go when the wind failed you or get to safety when storms did occur. The Mediterranean was also notorious for high and choppy swells, so a sturdy and rigid boat design was needed. A wooden boat with framed, rigid hulls fastened with iron nails were well suited to rough seas which the Bronze Age Greeks designed. This type of boat translated well into the North Atlantic with similar climatic issues (frequent and sudden storms, and no consistent wind direction, rough seas) and which ultimately the Vikings improved upon. I found these tidbits really interesting. There was also a section as to why square rig sails were popular in Europe, but lateen rigs were common in the Indian Ocean.
I found it interesting, and yet repetitive. I suspect if you don't have a passion for sailing, this book can become boring fast. Recommended with reservations!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting survey of prehistoric seafaring. Fagan divides his book into sections based on geography which turns out to be especially helpful because these regions share ocean and wind characteristics, and so developed a common seafaring culture. He is able to color the discussion of those characteristics with his own extensive experience sailing different kinds of boats. I could tell that this book was a passion project of his.

It’s well-written and not very difficult to follow, through it might be a bit more academic than the casual reader would like. I would disagree with reviewers who say that the sailing terminology is difficult to understand. A quick overview of sailing terms is given early in the book and I found it sufficient as a non-sailor myself. It does get repetitive in some places, though that’s not completely the fault of the author. Most cultures seem to have started out with similar dugout canoes and put to sea for similar reasons.

Definitely recommended for anyone with interest in ancient seamanship and oceangoing cultures.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good non-fiction book about how and why the earliest men (and women) in various areas of the globe first took to the sea; I can’t say it was a great book, because it is very long on speculation and the author’s personal sailing experience and short on real information.

In order, the author considers the birth of seamanship in the Far East, Greece, the Indian Ocean, Scandinavia, and a chapter covering both the lower Canadian / United States west coast and the Yucatán Peninsula. The author’s primary area of expertise is in anthropology; unfortunately, pre-history organic information on boats is very hard to come by, so in many cases he is reduced to speculation and inference. Also, the author has decades of experience sailing, which I thought would be an asset to the book; unfortunately, it turned out to be a liability, because it interjected too much of a personal note into the book.

The final chapter of the book is an Epilogue, focusing on Fish and Portolans (navigational charts based on compass directions and estimated distances observed by the pilots at sea). He notes that the North Sea cod fishery was vitally important from about 500 CE to 1500 CE in a world where fish on Friday and during penitential seasons was mandated by the Catholic Church. The advent of first steam and diesel engines made mariners much less dependent on sail, with the result being that a lot of sailing expertise gathered through the generations and passed down from father to son or from mentor to pupil was lost; and the advent of GPS has made that much more of sailing lore that much more irrelevant.

In the final analysis, this book was not quite what I had hoped for; it was not a bad book, but could have been much better. While it had much fascinating information, there was too much speculation as to How Things Might Have Happened.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

50,000 years ago. That is when open water sea-faring began in Indonesia as best they can reconstruct from the archeological record. Fifty thousand years ago. I am used to thinking of geological time but this is human time, and it seems different and astonishing. So well-written, and I think since the author is a seafarer himself, it lends a nuanced, humble view that is lovely. I want to read more from him, and want to go sailing with him too. I hear words and phrases like seafaring, maritime cultures, how the sea is running at 8 feet swells, and it resonates. It is also a beautiful symmetry to "Sailing the Pacific" about the Southern Ocean which I just read; it details more northern areas so I feel like I have been sailing over the whole planet. I just had a vacation to Big Sur and am still working on my photos from the ocean, so as Barry Lopez said, I am ordering my inner landscape with the exterior one and it is sublime and cherished.

[Shrike58 · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this survey of old traditions of navigation and what living with the ocean meant to the people who created navigation, the problem is that Fagan covers such a variety of experiences that this work feels a bit insubstantial, even considering that he's writing for a popular audience. What really ties it all together is Fagan's not inconsiderable experience as a sailor, to the point that one wishes that he had produced straight-forward memoir of his own nautical life.

Originally written: September 19, 2013.

[Joe White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather fast breezy overview, covering some aspects of cultures and trading, based in specific regions of the world where archaeological and historical research has been performed. The regions included:

The Pacific, specifically from Malaysia to across New Guinea to most of the Polynesian islands;

The Aegean Sea, with mention of some of the Eastern Mediterranean trade routes and societies;

The East coast of Africa and the Middle East to India over the Arabian Sea and close in Indian Ocean;(one of the best analysis of trade in this area that I have read);

Some aspects of known Chinese trade voyages;

The North Sea in some detail, and discussed in a manner not typically covered by classical historians who focus more on governmental aspects of war and commerce;

The Aleutians in more depth of navigation and travel than most other authors cover;

The Pacific Northwest with regard to boat usage and navigation and its influence on the cultures;

A brief mention of some California cultures and the navigational aspects of boat usage there;

Trade from Ecuador to Mexico via balsa rafts; (this was the first discussion and description of the large sea-going trading rafts that I have read outside of Kon-Tiki);

The Maya in the Yucatan area; (the boat usage and navigational aspects are usually overlooked in classical history texts);

And some discussion of Doggers, Cogs, and North Sea and Irish Sea skin covered boats pertaining to aspects of heavy use and their inability to survive as archaeological finds.

There are entire books on any one of these given topics, so the detail analysis here can't match what might be found elsewhere. However this gives a better broad overview of navigational challenges to various cultures around the world, with enough important specific details thrown in and convincing dates, that will allow someone with very little background to be informed quickly.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like books about the history of ocean exploration in general, which is why I gave this a go. It was really quite god, although it went more into the types of boats used, their construction, and how they were sailed than I expected. This wasn't a bad thing, but not something I gathered from the title.

The book is broken down into group of chapters having to do with ocean-going in various geographic areas, the peoples involved, and how ideas about sailing developed in those places. He covers southeast Asia and the south Pacific, the Mediterranean, sea travel in the Indian ocean which relied so much on the seasonal monsoons, the North Sea and North Atlantic, and the Pacific coast of the Americas, from the Aleutians to Mayan-Incan trade. Some of these places have more of a written record than others, and much of what Fagan rights is based on the archeological record.

I like his writing style. He has personally sailed in some of these areas, and I wish there had been more of that in the book. Sometimes he inserts a paragraph of an imagined incident related to sailing some time in the past. These seem shoe-horned into me and don't add a whole lot to the book overall. Many authors writing about history do this, and it's really easy to get this wrong.

A knowledge of sailing is helpful in reading this book. Fagan does take time out to explain the basics, but I just don't get a lot of the techniques or understand how they work. This isn't a failing on his part, but rather mine. His passion for the sea and sailing on it is obvious, though, and it comes through in this book.

[Timothy Dymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Information just pours out of this book in an overwhelming torrent: Irish Monks sailing out from Ceide Fields; the canoe voyages across the Sunda and Sahel shelves of SE Asia; the mysterious Lapita people who spread across remote Oceania; the sailing canoes of Polynesia; the meltemi winds that rip across the 'wind-dark sea' in the Mediterranean; the Uluburun wreck that told us how wealthy was ancient trade; the Erythraean Sea (the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean); the 'stone towns' of trade along the East African coast; the voyages of Zheng He the eunuch Admiral; the hide boats of northern Europe; the Hanseatic Cog workhorse trading ship; the Aleutian baidarka cod fishing kayaks; the 'Fiery Pool' realm of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean from where the sun seemed to rise for the Mayans. Any of the chapters of this book could be a book in itself. And since Brian Fagan has actually sailed these routes himself - you get a great sense of place and people, particularly when he describes the skills and knowledge of the navigators who could cross huge stretches of water with stars, wind and memory.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this book is very misleading -- "Within Sight of Land" would have been more accurate as most of the book is about coasting or "tramping" along coastlines around the world. There is very little about the development of navigation for offshore voyaging. The writer is an archaeologist so what he writes is interesting enough if not particularly surprising but the "earliest mariners'" secrets will have to remain locked up for now.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief look at the beginning of sea exploration in southern Pacific, Mediterranean, North Atlantic region and Pacific Northwest (Alaska to California). Due to lack of evidence, based on number of conjectures, but mildly interesting.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered how ancient mariners actually got around, this is the book for you. Dr. Fagan writes clearly and vividly brings the past to life. By providing some of his own sailing experiences, the perils faced by our ancestors become more real. I'm eager to read more maritime history.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For millennia, people have gone to sea in boats. Different cultures had different boats, based on available materials and the type of sea: reed rafts, dugout canoes, sealskin kayaks, boats built from oak planks. Their means of navigation didn’t differ quite as much. Sailors used the stars, seasonal winds, tides and currents, and local landmarks. They also relied on the experience of their ancestors, passed down to apprentice sailors. This book provides an overview of sailing and navigation in different parts of the world. It was interesting to compare and contrast them.

[Sully Augustine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars out of 5 - I read a hardback from the library. The author gave a lot of interesting information, and provided some good insights, but I had trouble sticking with this even though I'm very interested in the topic. It's very repetitive, and ultimately I just didn't like the style of writing.

[Naticia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the history of boats, boating, and the people who trusted their lives to their knowledge of the tides, currents, and winds.

[Ethan S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Fagan explores how the mariners of different early cultures took to the seas to venture "Beyond the Blue Horizon" as it would be. As a side note, I just love that title, it's so evocative. Fagan describes how cultures as different as the Polynesians, Greeks, Native Americans and Scandinavians explored first the near shores then ventured out, some for thousands of miles and some not much farther than the coast. He delves into the various geographical reasons such as tides, trade winds, frequency of storms that resulted in some seafaring cultures traveling so much farther than others.
Like all of Fagan's books I've read he takes what could be a very dry subject but makes it fascinating, using the anthropological records left behind to weave stories and narratives. In this book he adds just a bit of his own experience as lifelong recreational sailor. A great read.

[Christina Dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive book about how different cultures from prehistory until mostly the Renaissance, viewed the seas and navigated them. Depending on which cultures interested you the most, the book could range from fascinating to a little dry, and Fagan must rely on much informed speculation. I liked when he inserted anecdotal history and brought things to life, since I lean more toward the KON-TIKI, nitty-gritty, here's-exactly-what-it-was-like school of adventure writing.

[Doug · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually didn't finish this one. Anthropology just doesn't interest me that much; I thought there would be more focus on ship-building and seafaring, but the author seemed to focus on human origins, with much speculation of details that have no proof.

[Cliff Mccollum · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not recommended. This was one of the most boring historical pieces I've ever read. It is buried in so many names, terms and words foreign to non-sailors that I never felt like I was actually paying attention. Finally, about 60% of the way through I just gave up.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broad, sweeping novel full of generalizations and guesswork but fascinating to read just the same. Author does a good job of drawing you in to each specific epoch and culture then imagining how they would have perceived the world. Very interesting.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, an anthropologist, discusses the history of ancient seafaring cultures with conjectures on equipments, causes, and roots. This work provides another view on the peopling of the Asian islands and the Americas as much as 50,000 years ago.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where on earth did I put this book?

[Lili]

i enjoy everything written by B Fagan. this book was esspeccially good

[Matthew Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of my boat books. He gives a good overview of sailors from around the world.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loads of information, learnt a lot. Perhaps the wide brief didn't help, lacked a sustained narrative as it moved to different regions. Worth the read though.

[Steven Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little difficult to follow the general run of the story. Not the best.

[George Cassidy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Take ten pages before bedtime. Better than Nytol.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fagan is certainly a capable writer, and does a good job at making this accessible to laypeople. I was most interested in navigation though, and he tended to lean more toward boat design, port and cultural histories...quite thoroughly done too. The latitudinal navigation practiced by Norse seamen was fascinating, as was the section on Mayan mariners.