3 ms·

Tracing history of early seafarers through genes

21 points by Hooke 4y ago

contingencies 4y ago
The Pacific is fascinating. There is so much cultural depth and variety. Papua New Guinea is the core of it genetically, also where Jared Diamond spent a lot of time, unfortunately it's verging on inaccessible due to social problems today. Many of the colonial fleets have amazing records and objects of trips to this area but they are often cagey about letting anyone see them. Spain comes to mind. I visited their national library in Madrid specifically to see period materials from this region relating to traditional watercraft and they wouldn't let me in. A few weeks later https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_(watercraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_(watercraft) was featured on the front page of Wikipedia, no thanks to Spain, whose economic stagnation due to siesta culture apparently also infects their intellectual life. Portugal has an amazing collection partly visible in the insufficiently promoted Orient Museum on the waterfront in Lisbon, few travelers bother to make it down. Some of their Japanese items are breathtaking. Holland has entire warehouses full of the spoils of their naval exploits outside of Rotterdam, I was invited to go and view some specific pieces there (mainland Asia; not Pacific) but afterwards received a brief tour and noted their huge collection of PNG folk art. Some of the better German pieces are held in the Ethnological Museum of Berlin unfortunately you're not allowed to take photographs due to some sort of pernicious interpretation of copyright. The Czechs have a pretty impressive collection that punches above its weight, I believe in the Ethnographical Museum but could be wrong. Their Technical Museum is tangentially noteworthy for the best historic review of photography I've seen globally. It's hard to get to the bottom of the Parisian cultural complex but things surface sporadically, about 10 years ago I recall seeing some objects from this region in the MQB which unfortunately has a curatorial policy bordering on the vacuous of presenting objects as high art with an irrational aesthetic emphasis entirely devoid of context. One of the lesser known ancient western Pacific cultural phenomena are lost wax cast bronze drums https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong_Son_drum#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong_Son_drum#History
- mistrial9 4y ago
  Iberian peninsula suffers from a long and unique history of religious warfare; maybe they wanted you to slip a few hundred $CURRENCY to the staff to go further?

21 points by Hooke 4y ago

The Pacific is fascinating. There is so much cultural depth and variety. Papua New Guinea is the core of it genetically, also where Jared Diamond spent a lot of time, unfortunately it's verging on inaccessible due to social problems today. Many of the colonial fleets have amazing records and objects of trips to this area but they are often cagey about letting anyone see them. Spain comes to mind. I visited their national library in Madrid specifically to see period materials from this region relating to traditional watercraft and they wouldn't let me in. A few weeks later https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_(watercraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_(watercraft) was featured on the front page of Wikipedia, no thanks to Spain, whose economic stagnation due to siesta culture apparently also infects their intellectual life. Portugal has an amazing collection partly visible in the insufficiently promoted Orient Museum on the waterfront in Lisbon, few travelers bother to make it down. Some of their Japanese items are breathtaking. Holland has entire warehouses full of the spoils of their naval exploits outside of Rotterdam, I was invited to go and view some specific pieces there (mainland Asia; not Pacific) but afterwards received a brief tour and noted their huge collection of PNG folk art. Some of the better German pieces are held in the Ethnological Museum of Berlin unfortunately you're not allowed to take photographs due to some sort of pernicious interpretation of copyright. The Czechs have a pretty impressive collection that punches above its weight, I believe in the Ethnographical Museum but could be wrong. Their Technical Museum is tangentially noteworthy for the best historic review of photography I've seen globally. It's hard to get to the bottom of the Parisian cultural complex but things surface sporadically, about 10 years ago I recall seeing some objects from this region in the MQB which unfortunately has a curatorial policy bordering on the vacuous of presenting objects as high art with an irrational aesthetic emphasis entirely devoid of context. One of the lesser known ancient western Pacific cultural phenomena are lost wax cast bronze drums https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong_Son_drum#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong_Son_drum#History

mistrial9 4y ago
Iberian peninsula suffers from a long and unique history of religious warfare; maybe they wanted you to slip a few hundred $CURRENCY to the staff to go further?