Re: Alternative histories and paralele universes

JOEL MATTHEW PEARSON scripsit:
> Perhaps.  I don't think I'll pin anything on horses, however, since
> I believe that their extinction in North America predates the point at
> which the Tokana timeline diverged from our own, which was roughly
> 10,000 to 20,000 years ago.
No, that's just about right.  New World _Equus_ died out around
11,000 BP, contemporary with the Folsom culture, which makes many
suspect that their extinction was anthropogenic.

> Peoples living at either end of
> the Northern Pacific Rim network obviously have trade relations with
> neighbouring peoples to the south, and may even belong to official
> trade networks which include them, but due to distance and an absence
> of technology for long-distance communication, it's difficult for the
> Tokana to trade with them directly.  (So no bananas, cinnamon, or teak
> for the Tokana, I guess...)
Bananas probably wouldn't keep.  But spices were traded between what
is now Indonesia and Western Europe during our Middle Ages, and
silk came overland from China.

It's important to realize that the ocean is not a barrier from a trade
viewpoint, but rather a highway, and one which is free of tolls
(though storms and bad navigation are problems).

--
John Cowan                                      cowan@ccil.org
                e'osai ko sarji la lojban.