Mains'l Haul Handout

I really enjoyed the Mains'l Haul handout, I found the Kelp Highway theory to be very interesting.  Certain ideas stood out that had less to do with a boring historical record and more to do with monumental achievements of humankind.  I found it quite inspiring that these vast migrations were done by people with Stone Age technologies and how brave they must've been to be able to embark on such a journey.  

"These ancient maritime migrations to Australia, the Americas, and the Pacific, accomplished with Stone Age technologies but with great courage and human ingenuity, represent three of the most significant migrations in human history,” (Erlandson 13).  

 I feel as though early humans get described far too often as simple or primitive when their exploits illustrate quite the opposite.  After the reading I came to the understanding that although we humans today are more technologically advanced and possess tools that ancient man couldn't have envisioned we are really no more intelligent than them,  no more ingenious,  and certainly no more courageous.  This migration from me brought up comparisons to early space exploration, where brave individuals with untested technology ventured to uncharted and unexplored places.  For early humans the Pacific Ocean might have well been a foreign planet and as a further testament to their courageousness many of the oceans today are still yet to be explored.

"This human ability to innovate during periods of heightened environmental stress is one of the hallmark characteristics of our species…” (Cassidy 22).