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Makes sense. Is it any surprise? Arent there roman beads found in kamchatka at one point? And roman traders in golden cathay (a.k.a modern day malaysia). The an

Makes sense. Is it any surprise? Arent there roman beads found in kamchatka at one point? And roman traders in golden cathay (a.k.a modern day malaysia). The ancients had a much greater degree of interconnectedness than we sometimes imagine

rabbits_2002 3y ago
romans are much less than 12000 years old
angiosperm 3y ago
European beads were in Alaska pre-Columbus. Still, active trade networks have meaning.
JoeAltmaier 3y ago
It doesn't take that much, certainly not a globe-spanning trade network. You only have to trade with your neighbor for portable goods like beads to spread/diffuse across a continent for instance.
opportune 3y ago
Not only that, but there was trade and migrations across the Bering straight before Columbus too, as evidenced by the spread of the Yupik people/Paleo-Eskimos. Indonesia (Makassar) also traded with aboriginal Australians but this started in earnest in the 1700s. Still, it’s reasonable to conclude the entire earth was tenuously connected (technologically and historically if not actively) already even in the 1400s aside from some very isolated islands.
- dmn322 3y ago
  Polynesians brought sweet potatoes from South America by around 1000 ce, so it’s reasonable to suspect this was true before the 1400s.
  - opportune 3y ago
    Yeah, I think the Siberia-Alaska oversea connection had been established by then as well. So had the Kilwa Sultanate (connecting much of Africa). But I think to claim the whole world, except islands, was connected we’d have to include Australia too. And before the 17/1800s there isn’t a lot of evidence of contact between Australia and Indonesia. According to this article, maybe contact started around 1500 or so: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9320452 https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9320452. Though in the same article they mention some 1000 year old Kilwan coins found off the coast of Australia so you may actually be right that we were fully connected even in 1000!

rabbits_2002 3y ago

romans are much less than 12000 years old

angiosperm 3y ago

European beads were in Alaska pre-Columbus. Still, active trade networks have meaning.

JoeAltmaier 3y ago

It doesn't take that much, certainly not a globe-spanning trade network. You only have to trade with your neighbor for portable goods like beads to spread/diffuse across a continent for instance.

opportune 3y ago

Not only that, but there was trade and migrations across the Bering straight before Columbus too, as evidenced by the spread of the Yupik people/Paleo-Eskimos. Indonesia (Makassar) also traded with aboriginal Australians but this started in earnest in the 1700s. Still, it’s reasonable to conclude the entire earth was tenuously connected (technologically and historically if not actively) already even in the 1400s aside from some very isolated islands.

dmn322 3y ago
Polynesians brought sweet potatoes from South America by around 1000 ce, so it’s reasonable to suspect this was true before the 1400s.
- opportune 3y ago
  Yeah, I think the Siberia-Alaska oversea connection had been established by then as well. So had the Kilwa Sultanate (connecting much of Africa). But I think to claim the whole world, except islands, was connected we’d have to include Australia too. And before the 17/1800s there isn’t a lot of evidence of contact between Australia and Indonesia. According to this article, maybe contact started around 1500 or so: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9320452 https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9320452. Though in the same article they mention some 1000 year old Kilwan coins found off the coast of Australia so you may actually be right that we were fully connected even in 1000!