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It's really cool how advanced the Austronesians were in maritime navigation! I like to imagine that if history went down a slightly different path, we would be
by jhanschoo 9y ago
It's really cool how advanced the Austronesians were in maritime navigation! I like to imagine that if history went down a slightly different path, we would be talking about Austronesian imperialism!
- ptaipale 9y agoThey were indeed impressive navigators - I think the most amazing feat is that they were the ones who first settled Madagascar, and just look at the distance from Southeast Asia - but I think they lacked most of the technological and societal prerequisites for building actual empires. Particularly, writing. Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel is obviously the go-to book in this area for introduction of why some people built empires and others did not.