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| visits | member for | 1 year |
| seen | 12 hours ago | |
| stats | profile views | 21 |
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Dec 4 |
comment |
Qin's use of the number six @Monster Truck - The cun was in use as early as 9 ad - they've found a bronze caliper inscribed with the date of it's manufacture. It also measures fen, which likewise subdivide the cun into ten smaller units of measure: books.google.com/… |
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Dec 3 |
answered | Qin's use of the number six |
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Nov 28 |
awarded | Custodian |
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Nov 28 |
reviewed | Approve suggested edit on Why did Austronesian/Polynesian people not colonize Australia? |
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Nov 28 |
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Writing systems in South America? @ T.E.D - RongoRongo was developed by a civilization that didn't have any trade at all - Rapa Nui was too isolated to have regular trade contacts. I don't think the development of writing was so deterministic - it solves liturgical and genealogical problems as well. |
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Nov 27 |
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How did people travel to remote islands like Easter Island? @Gangnus - Sail is the generic technical term for voyaging by watercraft, whether that craft be powered by paddle, oar, steam engine or nuclear reactor. "Swum" in english means they actually traveled without a boat... so you either meant sail in the generic, or paddled in the specific. Cite: thefreedictionary.com/sail |
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Nov 27 |
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What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II? @kubanczyk - Good points! I've modified the answer to address your concerns and reflect your input. |
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Nov 27 |
revised |
What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II? Expanded answer at the request of the questioner. |
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Nov 27 |
revised |
How did people travel to remote islands like Easter Island? added 14 characters in body |
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Nov 27 |
answered | What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II? |
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Nov 27 |
comment |
Writing systems in South America? "When you look across history, pretty much any society large enough to require book-keeping and stratified enough to support kings will have developed (or borrowed) some kind of writing." - Neither the megalithic cultures in Europe nor the Mound Builder cultures in North America had writing, but were as large or larger than contemperaneous cultures that did. |
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Nov 16 |
revised |
Writing systems in South America? added 112 characters in body |
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Nov 16 |
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Chart of total gold in possession of humans OK, we know who the alien invaders in our midst are now. |
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Nov 15 |
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Who invented and marketed the first “clip on” headphones? What a neat question - I have no idea how to even begin researching this. So, I'll begin by researching how to research this. :) |
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Nov 15 |
answered | Writing systems in South America? |
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Nov 9 |
comment |
Are the Ramayana and Mahabharatha exaggerated stories or pure fiction? @DVK - Troy was found, Achilles and Ajax were not. |
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Nov 5 |
revised |
What is the purpose of the bridge to the Russkiy island? deleted 5 characters in body |
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Nov 5 |
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Why did Austronesian/Polynesian people not colonize Australia? @astabada - Yeah, that side of it is proving trickier. I can really only speculate: 1) The trade winds were very strongly against them (see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_prevailing_winds_on_earth.png ), 2) The Maritime SE Asian cultures really only interacted with others from the same culture group, unless for trade and 3) Australians and New Guineans of the time had neither spices nor mineral or metal goods, so trade missions (and perhaps colonies) were considered futile. |
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Nov 5 |
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If modern human existed for hundreds of thousands years why was writing invented only some 7000-9000 years ago? Your information on the origin of writing is outdated and incorrect. The discovery of the Dispilio Tablet is a pretty clear indication that the Vinča signs were actually true writing, and not protowriting. Similarly, it's becoming clear that Chinese writing also developed much earlier, deriving from Jiahu symbols. (The Mesopotamians used baked clay in a dry climate rather than animal skins or soft bark, so they were easier to discover... Europe and China each beat them to the punch by a few thousand years.) |
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Nov 1 |
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When people use spears to fight cavalry do infantry stab the horse or the rider? @JimThio - The spears are braced into the ground, but held and maneuvered. They were deployed in ranks, thinking that archery, cavalry and terrain could hold the flanks. This didn't always work. The Swiss Pikemen, mercenary light infantry outfits, figured out how to deploy in a mobile square formation, the hedgehog, that could instantly redeploy to adress any flanking threat. They pretty much ruled the battlefield for a century, before musketry and artillery made them obsolete. |
