Re: Amerindian navigators

[Thomas Burglin <burglin@ubaclu.unibas.ch>]

Yuri Kuchinsky wrote:
> 
> Where is it exactly that you see a problem here, Garry? What are you
> trying to prove? That Amerindians could not get balsa logs to build
> ships? But this would be quite preposterous...
> 
> I'm no authority on balsa trees. So why do you expect me to know all
> these things? It seems to me you are on a totally negative trip and are
> simply trying to sidetrack this discussion into irrelevancies.
> 
> When are you going to contribute something positive to these discussions,
> instead of finding fault with what other people are saying?
> 
> Yuri.

Well, we all thought you are a serious scholar, by your own admission.
As such, you can look up the relevant information in the library to
substantiate your claims.
You started this with suggestion "... they may have planted the Balsa trees".
Maybes etc. don't lead anywhere.
Provide a resonable scenario where they got the balsa from, otherwise stop it.
Picking on Garry because he has a positive suggestion about
 what conditions & questions need to be fullfilled
for your hypothesis to be acceptible, is not scholarly, you
are just evading the issue. If you want to be a serious scholar, do
some research, don't always wait for the others to answer your questions 
& suggestions.
Thomas



> 
> Garry Williams (gdwill@earthlink.net) wrote:
> : yuku@mail.trends.ca (Yuri Kuchinsky) wrote:
> 
> : >As far as the question you ask about where did the balsa logs needed for
> : >making sailing rafts come from, have it ever occurred to you that the
> : >Native Americans actually may have _planted them_ in the area for the
> : >purpose of harvesting the logs? What do you think, these are some kinds of
> : >hardwood trees that need to grow for hundreds of years to reach maturity?
> : >Balsa tree is extremely fast growing, just like the corktree. And of
> : >course we all know about the great sophistication of Native American
> : >farmers in this area... Yes? The "big problem" that you see there may not
> : >be a problem at all... So draw your own conclusions.
> : >
> 
> : I have a couple of pertinent questions: in the area where you
> : hypothesize that these trees may have been planted, what, exactly, are
> : the growing conditions like? What are the average and extreme temps,
> : the average rainfall, soil types, etc? Along the same vein, what are
> : the specific conditions needed by the balsa trees?
> 
> : After you've answered these questions, and assuming the answers don't
> : rule out the possiblity of the trees having been cultivated in the
> : region, I should like to know what *evidence* there is that the trees
> : were actually cultivated in this area?
> 
> : With the answers to these questions in hand, we should be able to draw
> : a reasonably accurate conclusion, I should think.
> 
> : --
> : Garry Williams
> :  gdwill@earthlink.net or
> :  gdwill@william.salzo.cary.nc.us
> :
> --
> Yuri Kuchinsky          | "Where there is the Tree of Knowledge, there
> ------------------------| is always Paradise: so say the most ancient
> Toronto ... the Earth   | and the most modern serpents."  F. Nietzsche
>   --- my webpage is (for now?) back at: http://www.io.org/~yuku ---