SC - precolumbian exploration/was becoming ot..early navigation

[Marilyn Traber]

Actually, if you check out early period forms of navigation, you will find a sort of
dependance on wind and water currents as navigational aids. The gulf stream follows
the coastline of america up, along teh greenland shelf and down the coast of europe
and back across the atlantic just below the hump of africa. Oddly  enough, it is
easier to get to europe than it is to go the other way[the northern return currents
are called the great circle route followed by sailing vessels and steamers as the
most energy efficient way to get to europe] whereas the east to west route is less
efficient for getting to north america, it does hit landfall in an area noted for
finds of roman and phoenician vessel wrecks. I can see the descendants of the
population who did the land route thing 30-50k years ago making it back to europe in
the neolithic [cf red paint people] but i can also understand why the classic med
civs didn't have trade routes-if they did regularly get blown over, the wreckage
would indicate to me that the vessels were damaged enough not to be able to safely
handle the required sail up the coast and back around. I can see there being folk
memories of a land to the west that would trigger voyages such as prince madog and
brenden, where it was mentioned how difficult the outward voyage was, but that the
return was not as difficult.

I can see as well why the foodstuffs did not make it back, if they did choose certain
foods, they could have well been consumed on the return voyage, they were more
interested in valuata, not nifty new foods. they might mention the foods, but the
returning of veggie matter that might spoil on the way, or animals that would be
entirely impractical to bring back for similar reasons[feed and housing was hard
enough for people let alone livestock] iirc the vikings and brendan did mention the
animals and plants, and the nasty natives as well. there was certain contact on the
grand banks with eoropean fishers and native fishers.


> M'lord Puck,
> I had heard about an unfounded theory posed that perhaps, some "wandering on
> water" types of humans had possibly made their way from the European continent to
> America by rowing along the edge of an icebridge that extended from England to
> Nova Scotia in glacial times.
> Do you think this is at all possible?
> Elysant



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