>>The acknowledgement of the diversity of Neanderthal knowledge and skills has been growing. Tool making , caring for each other , dentistry, jewelry making , language, and elaborate burial rites have all been explored over the last few years. Now it seems seafaring may need to be added to the list.
Science magazine points to possible evidence of Neanderthal voyages in the Mediterranean to the Greek islands of Naxos, Crete, Kefalonia, and Zakynthos. 130,000-year-old stone tools were found on Crete about a decade ago, but there was much doubt at the time if they were really evidence of Stone Age seafaring. However, more indications of voyaging have been found both on Crete and at other sites since then.
Archaeologist John Cherry of Brown University, once a skeptic of the possibility of Neanderthal seafaring, said “The orthodoxy until pretty recently was that you don’t have seafarers until the early Bronze Age. Now we are talking about seafaring Neandertals. It’s a pretty stunning change.” <<
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/new-research-suggests-neanderthal-knowledge-led-them-caves-out-sea-009954