Ancient Trading Raft Sails Anew [ Thor Heyerdahl did it first ]

ScienceDaily ^ | May 13, 2009 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

[SunkenCiv]

For the first time in nearly 500 years, a full-size balsa-wood raft just like those used in pre-Columbian Pacific trade took to the water on Sunday, May 10. Only this time, instead of the Pacific coast between Mexico and Chile where such rafts carried goods between the great civilizations of the Andes and Mesoamerica as long as a millennium ago, the replica raft was floated in the Charles River basin. The faithful reproduction of the ancient sailing craft, built from eight balsa logs brought from Ecuador for the project, was created in less than six weeks by 30 students in the Ancient Materials class taught by Professor of Archeology and Ancient Technology Dorothy Hosler of the department of Materials Science and Engineering. The replica was based on an analysis carried out by Hosler and her former student Leslie Dewan '06, which was published last year in the Journal of Anthropological Research. Based on drawings and descriptions recorded by Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch explorers, Dewan and Hosler figured out the dimensions and construction methods that most likely were used for the ancient craft, and reproduced these as accurately as possible. While some other attempts have been made to reproduce the ancient craft, including a one-third scale version built by Dewan and other students five years ago, none had previously copied the ancient designs and materials so precisely. No modern materials were used in the construction.

[bert]

Hmmmm... were the students working for the professor paid minimum wage or were they actually slaves to her ambition?

[SunkenCiv]

One of the students shown in the picture probably outstrips (so to speak) her professor.

http://lesliedewan.com/projects.html

[SunkenCiv]

:’) I hope someday we can all get along. :’)

[Lee'sGhost]

“Don’t be so easily confused.”

LMAO! Best subtle insult I’ve seen.

[Paladin2]

Why would someone choose Xenia as the name for a street?

As Newt said today (paraphrase here); "people would benefit in their life if they were to be more open to learning on a daily basis".

[Paladin2]

I'm not a trained Marine architect, but I believe that rafts are quite stable, though they do have two stable modes (not unlike my small sailing catamaran); right side up and upside down.

Having personal experience on the Charles River and coastal areas of the open ocean, I'd suggest that conditions on the open ocean can provide a more severe test of craft stability than the Charles.

[Uri’el-2012]

Street names in Denver are alphabetical.

Some must begin with "X"

Xenia: n. Botany. The effect on a hybrid plant produced by the transfer of pollen from one strain to the seed of a different strain. [New Latin, from Greek, hospitality, from xenos, a guest, stranger, See xeno-.]

[Paladin2]

I saw the movie as a kid.

[Billthedrill]

I'd suggest that conditions on the open ocean can provide a more severe test of craft stability than the Charles.

Oh, yeah. I still think Heyerdahl was nuts. Great story, though.

[Paladin2]

"Street names in Denver are alphabetical"

Not always.

On the west side, Denver seems to skip over "X" and "Y" while on the east side they doubled up on each letter.

There is not an obvious use of flora names for the streets on the east side. Concluding that Xenia was chosen as a non-Christian related name is not obvious.

[Paladin2]

"Oh, yeah. I still think Heyerdahl was nuts. Great story, though. "

I think Thor realized that he lucked out in a couple of ways. One being that they hadn't fully dried out the logs.

[Paladin2]

Is that you, Rodney? ;-)

[Uri’el-2012]

XS>"Street names in Denver are alphabetical"

Not always.

On the west side, Denver seems to skip over "X" and "Y" while on the east side they doubled up on each letter.

There is not an obvious use of flora names for the streets on the east side. Concluding that Xenia was chosen as a non-Christian related name is not obvious.

You are in serious need of professional help
to assist with your inter-personal skill sets.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[Paladin2]

"to assist with your inter-personal skill sets. "

I'm an objectivist, by training . If you are an emotional (typical 'rat) thinker, I'm not likely to be viewed favorably by you. Try sticking to the facts.

[annalex]

Xenia, or Ksenia is not an uncommon female name in Russia or Greece. I know one.

Here is a search in Russian for that name:Ksenia (Rus)

There are two Orthodox saints with that name.

Saint Xenia the Righteous of Rome was a saint of 5th century A.D., honored by some Christian Churches, including Orthodox.[1] Born with the name Eusebia to wealthy parents in Rome, she is said to have left Rome at the age of 17 to escape an unwelcome arranged marriage. She traveled to the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea, where she was given the name "Xenia" (stranger) and eventually became a deaconess revered for having the power to heal.[2]

Of her is written that she "helped everyone: for the destitute, she was a benefactress; for the grief-stricken, a comforter; for sinners, a guide to repentance. She possessed a deep humility, accounting herself the worst and most sinful of all." [3]

The Feast of St. Xenia is celebrated in the Orthodox church on January 24, the day on which she died. She is said to have foreseen her own death.[2]

Saint Xenia the Righteous of Rome

Also

Saint Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg (Russian: Святая блаженная Ксения Петербургская [Xenia Grigoryevna Petrova - Ксения Григорьевна Петрова]; ca. 1719-1730 — ca. 1803, Saint Petersburg) is a patron saint of St. Petersburg, who according to tradition, give all her possessions to the poor after her husband died. Her husband had been Colonel Andrey Fyodorovich Petrov, a chanter at the Saint Andrew Cathedral. After his death, Xenia became a "fool-for-Christ" and for 45 years wandered around the streets of St. Petersburg, usually wearing her late husband's military uniform. She was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church on February 6, 1988. Her feast day in the O.S. is January 24, which is February 6 in the New Calendar.

Saint Blessed Xenia of St.Petersburg

Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg

It is good that Denver has streets named after saints.

[Paladin2]

Here's the question:

Did or did not Thor first build a raft from Balsa Logs on the west coast of SA?

[Paladin2]

Xenia sounds to me like a good name for a female warrior. ;-)

The White Russians are apparently descended from heathen Vikings.

[annalex]

The so-called Nestor’s Chronicle records that three Scandinavian princes came to rule Russia in the early Middle Ages. The phrasing implies colonization rather than an ancestral relationship. Some of the Russian nobility did claim to come from one of them, Rurik.

“White Russians” is a curious term that you used. It could be a reference to the Belarus (”White Rus”) nation, closely related to the Russians, or maybe to the White Guard that resisted the communist revolution in 1918. It is also a sugary vodka drink that gives people a headache.

[Paladin2]

I'm not an expert, it's what I've "heard".

The Vikings did apparently come through "Russia" to the Black Sea back in the day.

[Uri’el-2012]

It is good that Denver has streets named after saints.

All who seek salvation in YHvH are called saints.

See the Holy Word of Elohim:
Ps. 16:3; 34:9; Dan. 7:18, 21, 25, 27; Matt. 27:52; Acts 9:13, 32,
41; 26:10; Rom. 1:7; 8:27; 12:13; 15:25f, 31; 16:2, 15; 1 Co. 1:2; 6:1f;
14:33; 16:1, 15; 2 Co. 1:1; 8:4; 9:1, 12; 13:13; Eph. 1:1, 15, 18; 2:19; 3:8,
18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18; Phil. 1:1; 4:22; Col. 1:2, 4, 12, 26; 1 Thess. 3:13; 2
Thess. 1:10; Phlm. 1:5, 7; Heb. 6:10; 13:24; Jude 1:3; Rev. 5:8; 8:3f; 11:18;
13:7, 10; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:8; 20:9

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach