[Aztlan] mayan/hammock question

[Jules Siegel]

Here a credible (but not documented) claim that the hammock was known 
outside of Mesoamerica long before the Conquest.

 From the British Royal Navy  "Navy slang"  item on hammocks:

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3812

"Just as his rifle is described as a soldier's best friend, his hammock 
is described as a sailor's best friend. When properly lashed up, a 
sailor's hammock will support a man in the sea for 24 hours. It is said 
that the use of the hammock on board ship was introduced by Aloibiados, 
who commanded the Athenian fleets war in about B.C. 450; Christopher 
Columbus is also credited with the introduction, having found (in 1493) 
that the natives at San Salvador slept in cotton nets (called 'hamaca') 
suspended between two trees. Hammocks were introduced into the Royal 
Navy in about 1600."

-- 
JULES SIEGEL Apdo. 1764, 77501-Cancun, Q. Roo, Mexico
http://www.cafecancun.com/bookarts

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