Is it possible to maintain contact between the Americas and Eurasia early on?

Kalontas

So as we all know, the Americas had the misfortune of getting the short end of the stick in the clash of two isolated civilization circles that happened with the Columbian Exchange. I tried to think of various ways of maintaining the cultural diversity of the Americas and avoiding the catastrophe for the native populations, including ASB - like ISoTing the Americas three thousand years back to give them more time to develop. But maybe we can do it more realistically.

Can we somehow create contact between the Americas and Eurasia very early on (Classic Antiquity, perhaps) and maintain it to prevent the isolation of diseases and technology? If we can perhaps get someone to travel to Iceland in Roman Era, and then travel to Greenland and to "Canada", maybe then we can maintain some level of connection. Not a big enough connection to send large armies of conquistadors, but maybe big enough to prevent pandemics in the Americas, and big enough to give them metal smelting, or alphabet, or other technologies?

I know it's a far-fetched scenario, that probably creates a ton of butterflies, but is it plausible in the slightest in your opinion?
 

Sime

Kalontas said:
So as we all know, the Americas had the misfortune of getting the short end of the stick in the clash of two isolated civilization circles that happened with the Columbian Exchange. I tried to think of various ways of maintaining the cultural diversity of the Americas and avoiding the catastrophe for the native populations, including ASB - like ISoTing the Americas three thousand years back to give them more time to develop. But maybe we can do it more realistically.

Can we somehow create contact between the Americas and Eurasia very early on (Classic Antiquity, perhaps) and maintain it to prevent the isolation of diseases and technology? If we can perhaps get someone to travel to Iceland in Roman Era, and then travel to Greenland and to "Canada", maybe then we can maintain some level of connection. Not a big enough connection to send large armies of conquistadors, but maybe big enough to prevent pandemics in the Americas, and big enough to give them metal smelting, or alphabet, or other technologies?

I know it's a far-fetched scenario, that probably creates a ton of butterflies, but is it plausible in the slightest in your opinion?
Click to expand...

It's possible, but only for South America.

Basically, you need some merchant-like civilization to reach South America, because the economic drive is the only thing that could keep the communications stable. I'm thinking about the carthaginians, perhaps. Or, you could wank the greek colonization and extend it to the Atlantic, but you would have to have greeks colonize West Africa first.

Maybe you need to extend the Bronze Age crisis, to make greek settlers in the Mediterranean look for other sources of food/land to farm. It's difficult to propose a POD, because we don't know anything about the Bronze Age collapse.
 

RodentRevolution

Banned
Kalontas said:
Can we somehow create contact between the Americas and Eurasia very early on (Classic Antiquity, perhaps) and maintain it to prevent the isolation of diseases and technology? If we can perhaps get someone to travel to Iceland in Roman Era, and then travel to Greenland and to "Canada", maybe then we can maintain some level of connection.


I know it's a far-fetched scenario, that probably creates a ton of butterflies, but is it plausible in the slightest in your opinion?
Click to expand...


Blisters, I am not very worried about butterflies in those latitudes (ignores that you mean metaphorical chaos butterflies) but your chosen route involves lots of blisters as you going against the prevailing winds and currents the whole way and so given ancient rigs that pretty much means rowing...lots and lots of rowing.

However travel to the Far West in the trades should be theoretically possible in a strong enough and well stocked enough boat, rather than coming back directly you sail up the Far Western coast until you can catch the westerlies and then head east trying not to bounce too hard into Hibernia or Britannia, if you find yourself near Thule you went too far north.

So in theory at least you could have say Roman Latifunda likely based around sugar, though indigo would be a good cash crop as would some others. Expensive mind as death rates among the slave labour and even the free overseers would be appalling.

Pandemics would potentially be rife among the mainland population depending on the level of communications but you actually want that as you are looking to give the survivors time to rebuild once they have built up a tolerance to Eurasian diseases.

Oh and yes loads of flutterbys :D
 

altwere

I had started a TL several years ago where as part of the POB the carthaginians had started a new city, hidden from Rome down along the bulge of Africa at the southern edge of the Sahal. I was planning for Rome to discover North America. Boristus suggested that it would be fun to have Carthage discover South America. I hadn't gotten to the point of checking out the currents. But let them get there and say discover both Sugar cane and chocolate Hum.
 

Dathi THorfinnsson

altwere said:
I had started a TL several years ago where as part of the POB the carthaginians had started a new city, hidden from Rome down along the bulge of Africa at the southern edge of the Sahal. I was planning for Rome to discover North America. Boristus suggested that it would be fun to have Carthage discover South America. I hadn't gotten to the point of checking out the currents. But let them get there and say discover both Sugar cane and chocolate Hum.
Click to expand...
Sugar Cane? Where are they going to discover that? Going to India as well as the New World?
 

Kalontas

If it was possible to maintain that low level of contact, makes you wonder how much would our two sides influence each other. Romans can't invade the Americas because it's still too far for big fleets and armies, but what about Christianity? You could get Christian missionaries in 4th century to cross over to the Americas and try to convert the natives. Do we know enough about the beliefs of 4th century America to tell how susceptible to conversion would they be?

Other major differences here? Various American crops arrive in Europe in Antiquity. How big of an influence this can have on the events?
 
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