Romans in Nova Scotia

[uniface]

http://www.sott.net/article/308709-Swor ... e-Columbus

[kbs2244]

Oh boy!!
So we have an “out of place" artefact, supposedly found at a known but un-worked shipwreck site.
And with a TV show budget to proceed with.
Who is going to step forward and be the respected expert?

[Minimalist]

Pultizer says it is time to rewrite the history books.

I doubt that he will win any prizes for that comment.

[kbs2244]

I think a clear question is why hasn't a known as real old wreck been investigated.

Has the islands reputation made it a hands off site for "responsible" investigators?

[uniface]

Or has the archaeologist's firing who was drawing attention to the Norse there "sent a message" ?

[kbs2244]

Ah, yes.
I had forgotten about her.
But wasn,t she swimming upstream against her sponser that had a locally funded historical display to the contrary?

It was a long way from Nova Scotia.
And with a TV scale budget, independent from local pressure, I would expect someone could be lured out of the woods.

[Minimalist]

This

http://pelagios.org/maps/greco-roman/

is a digital map of the Roman Empire. If you drag it to Gibraltar you see that there were numerous ports up and down the shipping lanes from southern Morocco to Britain and points in between. That there was maritime trade in the Atlantic is a given.

But, if you were to read “1493” by Charles Mann you would see that the pernicious effect of the exchange of micro-organisms from East to West – and, thanks to Columbus, from West to East – were
a) completely unknown to those in the middle of it.
b) blatantly obvious to us, now.
and
c) rules out any pre-columbian “contact” with living beings.

I grant the probability of a derelict ship being caught in the winds and driven across the ocean where it wrecked and was scavenged by natives. Those ships were not designed for long voyages and the crews, 4 or 5 men, killed by thirst, disease or starvation would have been reduced to skeletons by the time the ship crossed they ocean.

But if living people from the Roman world, where disease was endemic reached the Americas the effects of the “Columbian Exchange” would have been as catastrophic as after Columbus and we simply have no indication of that being the case.

One sword is not a “trade route.”

[shawomet]

It's not the only one. Here a look at the others and why we should be wary of this claim:

http://www.andytheargumentativearchaeol ... cotia.html

So far, four have been located, the handles possibly cast from the same mold. The one on eBay failed to sell. It was an Italian tourist item with handle identical to the one from Nova Scotia. Others found in Florida and California with apparent identical handles as well.

http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/j-hut ... oman-sword

[kbs2244]

For your holiday reading pleasure

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1038045/posts
(Note the answer to the first comment re: salt.)

http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf028/sf028p01.htm

[shawomet]

For your holiday reading pleasure

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1038045/posts
(Note the answer to the first comment re: salt.)

http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf028/sf028p01.htm

I remember when Marx found the amphora and wreck. My memory tells me the Brazilian government physically covered the wreck to prevent investigation, but my memory could be faulty.

The New York Times, 1982:

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/10/world ... visit.html

The New York Times, 1985. Brazil bans underwater exploring:

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/25/scien ... razil.html

[shawomet]

http://www.andywhiteanthropology.com/bl ... -the-drain

"J. Hutton Pulitzer has finally said something accurate: he is, indeed, "rewriting history." And by "rewriting history" I mean backpedaling on his statements that a sword allegedly found in Nova Scotia was a "100 per cent confirmed" Roman artifact.

Following the announcement (on December 16) via a story in the Boston Standard written by Gemma Gadd, several bronze/brass swords that appear to be nearly identical to Pulitzer's claimed Roman sword have come to light (one in a collection in Florida, one recently purchased in California, and one for sale on Italian Ebay). It also turns out that you can buy a currently-produced iron (or stone?) version of the sword from well-known edged-weapon retailers such as Walmart and Linens-N-Things.

If you weren't already suspicious of Pulitzer's sword just by looking at it, the existence of multiple brass/bronze swords that appear to have been cast from the exact same mold as Puliter's sword should give you pause. If not, you've probably already stopped reading............."

[Minimalist]

Perhaps it was a shipment of ceremonial swords?

[kbs2244]

I have been to the WalMart headquarters.

While not imposing, and though it may be considered by some as an "out of place artifact", it is not 1000 years old.

Until you can show me a 4x6 label with a barcode I will reject that idea.

[uniface]

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1946376 ... nd-canada/

[Minimalist]

The sword was discovered off the coast of Oak Island, Nova Scotia, during investigations into local lore of treasure buried on the island, conducted as part of the immensely popular History Channel show, “The Curse of Oak Island.”

There's a red flag.