It's interesting how the vikings are the first to discover North America and the polynesians spreading to South America. Both civilizations make our mind think, how the possibilities of having ancestry in the Americas. When I hear about the Vikings, I imagine being barbarians and wonderers of the sea. They are famous for their longboats, which they use since they lived around the north sea of Scandinavia. The only way of communication and trade would be in the longboats. The characteristics of the boat is "tall, up-curved bow and stern ,overlapping oak side planks, and the open hull fitted with dozens of long oars." (p.147). What got my attention was the Viking's discovery of America was at most one part of a huge maritime expansion of Scandinavian people. From the years 750 to 1050, the era that uprise the Viking Age. Looking at the map on page 148, its compelling how the vikings move from Europe, Iceland, Greenland and through North America (up in Canada). It's amazing how strong their longboats were, to support the current of the water and storms that can happen on the way. The reading of the polynesians to be honest wasn't my favorite. The only thing that grasped my attention was how their can be a link of ancestry in South America. On pages 178 and 179, shows data and graphs, how their can be a clue of polynesians brought language, culture, plants, food and etc. Question is how did they get to South America?, page 172, shows a small map of polynesian islands. They have a great understanding of the water current and using stars as their guide. Both have in common is to explore what is not known, risk the dangers on the way, to settle for something better in their civilizations.
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