[Aztlan] ANCIENT PACIFIC COAST TRADE REPLICATED

[Doug Weller]

Hi Benjamin,

Wednesday, March 19, 2008, 4:26:29 PM, you wrote:

> All,

> The question of whether or not South Americans were able to travel to 
> Central America/Mexico is one of great interest. However, it is quite 
> clear that the question of whether or not something is possible is 
> different than whether or not it happened. Other researchers have 
> already shown much of what is concluded in this short article (I look 
> forward to reading the scholarly article in the near future). I highly
> suggest folks take a look at the work of Cameron Smith, who built a 
> full-size model and sailed from Salango, Ecuador up the coast (not a 
> miniature to float in the Charles- a useful project for students, but 
> completely not scientifically valid). Such vessels have been replicated
> numerous times, the most famous being Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki. Smith
> is the one that determined that shipworms were a major issue (though 
> this was probably already known by local fisherman and sailors). He 
> determined that it was likely that, when in harbor, boats would have 
> been pulled up on the shore to dry out, which would have prevented 
> waterlogging and killed off the shipworms.Smith has published much of 
> this work online- I suggest a Google search to find out more.

> Similarly, the potential voyage has already been modeled by Richard 
> Callaghan (Antiquity 2003).

I believe Heyerdahl's raft was towed out to sea before he set off,
did Smith have any problems similar to this?

Thanks

Doug


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Doug Weller  Moderator, sci.archaeology.moderated
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