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Deleted member 6559
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I remember that Ra I failed because Heyerdahl cut the stern off flat thus leaving the reed stems open to the sea, which led to them becoming waterlogged. Ra II had both ends turned up.
I think Heyedahl's adventures only proved what might have happened, but there is very little evidence for balsa or papyrus boats crossing the oceans. It comes from the old prejudice that cultures using similar technologies must have been influenced by the superior culture, no matter how unlikely contact was, instead of those technologies being able to develop independently. Another case is that of Frobenius discovering the famous Ife bronzes in Nigeria. He couldn't believe that black people could have developed a lost wax casting method of their own, so concluded that the ancient Greeks must have somehow got to West Africa.
OK, give me a mo, and I'll sort something out, then I really must stop (!).
I think Heyedahl's adventures only proved what might have happened, but there is very little evidence for balsa or papyrus boats crossing the oceans. It comes from the old prejudice that cultures using similar technologies must have been influenced by the superior culture, no matter how unlikely contact was, instead of those technologies being able to develop independently. Another case is that of Frobenius discovering the famous Ife bronzes in Nigeria. He couldn't believe that black people could have developed a lost wax casting method of their own, so concluded that the ancient Greeks must have somehow got to West Africa.
OK, give me a mo, and I'll sort something out, then I really must stop (!).
