Why aren't there native Antarctic people

[Ultraworld]

Why aren't there native Antarctic people.
The human race has spread out over the entire planet except for Antarctica. That is weird.
I admit that it is cold but the Inuit have proven that humans can survive under extreme conditions

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Originally posted by Ultraworld
Why aren't there native Antarctic people.
The human race has spread out over the entire planet except for Antarctica. That is weird.
I admit that it is cold but the Inuit have proven that humans can survive under extreme conditions

The Artic is ALOT more accessible than Antartica ever has been from where man originated, sea being the main barrier to the spread of man.


Whilst Australia and the Americas could be populated by homo-sapiens from the "Old World" by the way of land or ice bridges (e.g across the Bering Strait), Antartica was far more geographically remote (not to mention hostile) and this seems to have prevented any colonisation until the 19th Century. Even now you have to be mad to live out there


This website I linked has a wonderful animation showing continental spread...note that about 150 million years ago Antartica separates from Africa, around 75 million it separates from the isolated S.American continent and moves towards its modern-day position. At no point was there an opportunity for man to easily reach Antartica considering the first modern-men are no more than a few hundred thousand years old (The first divergence leading to great apes and humans was probably only 5-8 million years ago).


The colonisation of the Americas and Australia by "Man" is also a recent event with:

~ 50,000 years ago Australia inhabited
~ 33,000 years ago the Western Pacific Islands inhabited
~ 15,000 years ago the Americas were colonised.

 

[luiz]

Antartica is simply too inospit. To these day there is no permanent inhabitant there. Its way too cold(more than the artic) and there is not enough food.
Besides, Antartica could only be accessed by feet during the Ice Ages, when the Straight of Beren was frozen. The indians that migrated to South America didnt venture much to the South, and theres no reason they should try getting to Antartica.

 

[Furius]

The natives of New Zealand, Polynesians apparently, from one thing I heard knew of Antarctica but, you'd have to be mad to live there.
And, I doubt Inuits live as far north as Antarctica is south. Aside from Penguins, a couple of flea sized insects and possibly some ice-proof moss, NOTHING lives in Antarctica.

 

[PresidentMike]

Today there are semi-permanent, year round research stations, but the only people you'll find at these science outposts are (*gasp!*) scientists, along with a few support personnel (military, engineers, etc.)

In theory, I suppose it would have been possible for ancient humans to live there, but it would have been one hell of a challenge, and they would have been concentrated completley at the coast. Their they could have lived off the marine life (penguins, whales, etc.) and scratched out a living. But why do this if you don't absolutley have to? Given the choice between South America and Antartica, or New Zealand/Australia and Antartica, I would take SA/NZ/Aus. any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

In the interior there is nothing: it's a wasteland. No plants, no animals, nothing.

 

[pawpaw]

the problem wasn't living there ( well yes thats a problem too ) but getting there. theres no bridge between s. america and antartica, it would of had to be by boat through horriable seas that i doudt primiative man could of made it- they walked into australia and america- big differance

 

[Stefan Haertel]

pawpaw:
The seas of the Pacific aren't very friendly either, and yet, the Polynesians made it across (although an estimated quarter of a million people drowned over the centuries). I think the seas of the Indian Ocean aren't peaceful too, but the unhabitants of Madagascar originate in Indonesia and the area around, and they arrived there at about 1000 AD (or BC? dunno at this time).
My guess is that the few people who actually reached the southernmost of South America -which was very late- didn't really expect to find something more hospitable out there at the sea.

 

[pawpaw]

this is true, by the way do you know about what time frame did they migrate across the pacific?

 

[Kafka2]

The Pacific is a lot less empty and hostile than the Southern Ocean.

 

[Stefan Haertel]

this is true, by the way do you know about what time frame did they migrate across the pacific?

Earliest colonization in Melanesia -New Guinea and the surrounding isles- began at about 2000 BC, the Easter Islands were colonized ca. AD 300, Hawaii ca. AD 400.
So count between 2000 and 2500 years in total.

 

[#1 Person]

In the artic there were many plants and animals, But in the antartica there is not a single tree, and i don'y think they can live off penguins

 

[Furius]

On the other hand, for all we know there might be Nitive Antarcticans and the researchers are keeping them secret.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

A good resource for people interested in Antarctica...

http://www.visitandlearn.co.uk/antarcticadetail2.asp

 

[Furius]

Actually colonization of the Pacific by Polynesians didn't end until 800-1000 AD when the Maori colonized New Zealand. Presumably if New Zealand had ever become overpopulated (quite unlikely as it isn't now) the Maori would have sailed progressively further south perhaps even reaching the Auckland Isles but no further, people aren't made for that sort of climate.

 

[Ultraworld]

>> people aren't made for that sort of climate. <<

yes they are. Look at the inuit (ok admit, they have clothes)

 

[Furius]

Inuit don't just have clothes, they have igloos, specialised ritual and hunting tactics that allowed them to do little more than to eke out an existance in the snowy sub-arctic.

 

[PresidentMike]

Originally posted by Furius
Inuit don't just have clothes, they have igloos, specialised ritual and hunting tactics that allowed them to do little more than to eke out an existance in the snowy sub-arctic.

They weren't born with that knowledge, it's not inherit to their genetic code. They developed tools and tactics to survive in that environment. That's one of humanity's greatest strengths: our brains allow us to figure out ways to live in anything from rainforest to desert to the arctic. If the Inuit could adapt to the far north, whose to say another group couldn't adapt to the far south?

Originally posted by #1 Person
i don'y think they can live off penguins

It wouldn't have been just penguins, but other sea life as well: whales, seals, fish, etc. Other human populations have built lifestyles around fewer animals than that (plains Indians lived off the buffalo, for example). With man's powers of adaptation, I wouldn't put it past us to eek out a living there. It would have been very hard, but I don't think it's impossible. Just because no one did it doesn't mean it couldn't be done; as Furius pointed out, if a population had been pressed they may have been inspired to try it. But before they got that far the modern world arrived.

As for navigating the seas: again, that would have been a monumental challenge, but it would have been doable. Look at Shackelton. He managed to make it in the treacherous South Atlantic waters in a small, open boat. Polynesians (sp?) were expert seafarers. If Shackelton could have done it, why (in theory at least) couldn't they have done it?

 

[Stefan Haertel]

Remember, people, the Inuit don't live on ice. Although their summers are short, there are summers, and even some plants are growing where they live. Large animals live there as well. Nobody is living in the centre of Greenland.

 

[Furius]

I heard a Maori legend about Antarctica, "The Well of the World" aparently the Polynesians DID sail there, however this sort of thing should be taken with a grain of salt as many Maori legends were invented in the '50's and 60's.
I think there are a few enormous differences between Arctic and Antarctic.
1. The Arctic has more fresh water
2. The Antarctic has much worse weather
3. In the Antarctic it is so dry that there is enough static electricity to shock and kill you.

 

[Cilpot]

Originally posted by Furius
And, I doubt Inuits live as far north as Antarctica is south.

Hmm.. I live as far north as the northern point of the norwegian dependency on antarctica is south. In fact, some parts of antarctica is north of the antarctic circle.