Did Giant Comet Help Hobbits Reach Flores?

Polynesian people managed to seed much of the Pacific with little more than the technology of 'ancient man'.

Just because the Aborigines haven't had need for boats for a long long time doesn't mean they never used them.

And yet you don't know the mainstream models of gravity. So you have spent all that time avoiding learning Newtonian gravity, vector calculus and relativity. I started reading pop science books on relativity when I was about 15 or 16. I'd read pretty much the entirety of the pop science section in my local WHSmiths by the time I applied to university. You obviously haven't put much effort into learning physics.

 

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CSS,
thank you for correcting the quote boxes. You made this objection

"This is only the interpretation of a cave painting by one man, which he suggests is of a period at least 17,000 years old. This is not proof in the slightest!"

CSS, you offered the link and the cave painting interpretation as evidence in support of your speculation. How come when I point out it actually supports my contention that ocean travel was not a problem for our ancestors, you turn around and dismiss the relevance of your own quote.

I have been quite harsh on your comments and ideas in several threads. This is an example of why. You do not use common sense, or logic, or proper analysis of data, or any aspect of scientific methodology. It is very frustrating to observe and comment on.

 

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Back on track (well almost), it seems that the seafaring capabilities of humans in the Pleistocene is generally considered advanced enough for island hopping. The region in question has islands in view of one another "from Java to Timor, the destination shore was clearly and easily visible prior to each of the several crossings, at any sea level." Robert G. Bednarik in a book review here

I looked further into Bednarik's research, pretty extensive body of work, a lot on rock art from India to Australia. It includes this: "Seafaring in the Pleistocene"

Abstract

Archaeological data from Wallacea (Indonesia) and elsewhere are summarized to show that the history of seafaring begins in the Early Pleistocene, and that this human capability eventually led to Middle Palaeolithic ocean crossings in the general region of Australia. To understand better the technological magnitude of these
many maritime accomplishments, a series of replicative experiments are described, and the theoretical conditions of these experiments are examined. The proposition is advanced that hominid cognitive and cultural evolution during the Middle and early Late Pleistocene have been severely misjudged. The navigational feats of Pleistocene seafarers confirm the cultural evidence of sophistication available from the study of palaeoart.

I also found this article by him, but I shouldn't just rely on one author, and will research further.

My feeling is that it wouldn't take more than the traditional technology extant in northern Australia to island hop, like single hull hollow logs, or bark canoes. I don't think it needs to be as advanced as rafts of reeds or logs, or multi hull craft of the Polynesians to get to Flores.

Now its starting to become a hijack of the original thread!

 

Interesting information Bricoleur. On a slight aside I have found the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis intriguing since I first heard of it. If you are not familiar with it the idea is that man became bipedal through the adoption of a partially acquatic lifestyle. The idea is dismissed by most anthropologists, but has - to my mind - a certain elegance and symmetry.
As an extension of that it seemed to me that if it were true we should find evidence of very early seafaring skills amongst early man, more advanced than he is gneerally credited with. Bednarik seems to have come up with such evidence. However, as you point out, this is the view of a single researcher.

 

I remember that aquatic theory, at high school in the 70's. Saw a video about it, basing some of the theory on hair growth or something!
The problem with any seafaring technology of that age is it would be highly unlikely to find remains to positively prove it. Therefore Bednark bases his assertions on rock art content.

Regards,
Bric

 

Thank you common sense seeker. You are aptly named.

NP. Just ignore Trippy. He believes in miracles like marsupials teleporting across the Pacific Ocean and desert iguanas taking 3 year rafting trips to Fiji and Tonga but no other island of the 30,000 in the Pacific.

 

The Cretaceous Period according to Plate Tectonics mythology.

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If marsupials evolved in China 125 million years ago, how did they teleport to Australia and South America? Witchcraft or divine intervention?

 

Since there were no significant placental mammals around at the time the marsupials were top of their particular niche. This meant that their income was great enough they were able to purchase airline tickets and fly there.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/busin...005/08/14/1123957950520.html?from=moreStories

 

Wrong as usual. The earliest known marsupial Sinodelphys szalayi was discovered in the same quarry as the earliest known mammal Eomaia scansoria.

That's consistent with the plate tectonics hypothesis.

 

The earliest known marsupial was found in China 125 mya.

According to plate tectonics, not in the Creataceous. See map above.

 

I thought you believe in plate tectonics. So how did marsupials get to South America in the Cretaceous?