Re: The map of typological features

"Darkstar" <darkstar100@xxxxxxxx> wrote...

John Atkinson wrote:

"Darkstar" <darkstar100@xxxxxxxx> wrote...

John Atkinson wrote:

[...]

So, whoever was in the Maldives in 1500 BC, it wouldn't have been Vijaya
and
his mob.

By 1700 BC they just
appeared in Indus Valley, and peaceful agricultural migrations take
time, you know. Let alone acquiring navigational skills.

There's little doubt that there was regular sea-borne trade between the
Persian Gulf and the west coast of India well before this. Did they
visit
the Maldives? Thor Heyerdahl says they did, which is a pretty good
reason
to doubt it.

But probably not by IAs.

Yep. There were IA speakers in Mesopotamia around then (Mitanni), but it's
extremely unlikely that that they took to the sea from there.

Sumer might have traded with the Indus Valley
civilzation, but that's another story.

Cowrie shells identified as coming from the Maldives have been found in the
ruins of the Indus Valley towns. So someone presumably went there to get
them. Doesn't mean that there were permanent settlements there that early,
of course.

Austronesians are unlikely to be there at the time, I agree, although I
can't exclude the possibility.
Still, sounds more like wrong dating.
And if they're atolls, they may be recent -- the same argument you were
giving for eastern Micronesia.

Some trivia for you: Maldives is the flattest nation on Earth. The highest
point on the islands is on Wilingili island in the Addu Atoll and is 2.4
meters above mean sea level. "Atoll" is supposed to be the only word in
English that comes from the Maldives language Dhivehi (< atholhu)

John.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The map of typological features
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