CHAPTER 3 LOST EUROPEAN EXPLORERS

CHAPTER 3 LOST EUROPEAN EXPLORERS
Note:3@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

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Northwest Passage, a sea channel that could energize trade by connecting western Europe to East Asia.
Note:LA MISSIONE APOLLO DEL 1845

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British raced the Russians for control of the Canadian Arctic
Note:LA VOMPETIZIONE

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reinforced ice-breaking ships
Note:MEZZI IMPEGATI

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desalinators,
Note:Ccccc

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five years of provisions,
Note:Cccccc SCATOLETTE

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the sea ice inevitably locked them in for the winter around Devon and Beechney Islands, 600 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Note:10 MESI DI BLOCCO ...PIACEVOLE

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it soon became clear that the ice was not retreating and that they’d remain imprisoned for another year.
Note:L INVERNO SUCCESSIVO...SORPRESA

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nineteen months on the ice,
Note:DI FATTO

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abandon ship and set up camp on King William Island.
Note:DECISIONE DURA

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everyone gradually died.
Note:L UNICA COSA CHE SAPIAMO DOPO

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crew fragmented, moved south, and cannibalism ensued.
Note:SFORZO ESTREMO...TESTIMONIANZA INUIT

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quickly departed when they noticed the crew transporting human limbs.
Note:ESCHIMESI IMPAURITI DOPO L INCONTRO

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Crozier made it far enough south that he fell in with the Chippewa, where he lived out his days hiding from the shame of sustained and organized cannibalism.
Note:PETTEGOLEZZO....NB I DISPERSI SI SAREBBERO SALVATI ADOTTANDO LO STILE DI VITA DEGLI ESCHIMESI

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Why couldn’t these men survive, given that some humans do just fine in this environment?
Note:LA DOMANDA CRUCIALE...XCHÈ ZOMBI MORIBONDI TRA TANTI UOMINI ON FORMA? (INUIT)

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King William Island lies at the heart of Netsilik territory,
Note:INFATTI

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In the winter, they lived in snow houses and hunted seals using harpoons. In the summer, they lived in tents, hunted caribou,
Note:INVERNO INUIT

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“lots of fat”
Note:L ISOLA X GLI INUIT

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Franklin’s men were 105 big-brained and highly motivated
Note:GLI SCONFITTI DALL AMBIENTE OSTILE

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environment that humans have lived in as foragers for over 30,000 years.
Note:OSTILE X MODO DI DIRE

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to experience the environment and put those big brains to work.
Note:TRE ANNI DI ALLENAMENTI...VANI

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highly cohesive group with a shared goal.
Note:MOLTO UNITI SOTTO F

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the same number of mouths to feed as a large Netsilik encampment,
Note:ESIGENZE DEGLI OCCIDENTALI...NIENTE VECCHI E BAMBINI

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Yet the crew vanished, defeated by the hostile environment and only remembered in Inuit stories.
Note:EPPURE...

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humans don’t adapt to novel environments the way other animals do or by using our individual intelligence.
Note:LA RAGIONE DEL FALLIMENTO

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how to use driftwood,
Note:USARE I DETRIRI X FARE ARCHI?E CACCIARE IL CARIBU…A NESSUNO VENNE IN MENTE

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lacked the vast body of cultural know-how about building snow houses, creating fresh water, hunting seals, making kayaks,
Note:ALTRE LACUNE

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To hunt seals, you first have to find their breathing holes in the ice.
Note:TRUCCHI...TRAMANDATI DALLA CULTURA

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open the hole, smell it to verify that it’s still in use
Note:Cccccc IMPORTANTE CHE IL BUCO SI PRESENTI COPERTO

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If the seal enters the hole, the indicator moves, and you must blindly plunge your harpoon into the hole using all your weight.
Note:Cccccccccc INDICATORE FATTO CON UN OSSO DELLE RENNE...RAMPONE A PUNTA STACCABILE LEGATO CON I TENDINI DEL CARIBÙ

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harpoon is made of extra-hard polar bear bone
Note:X FARE L ARPIONE DEVI SAPER UCCIDERE L ORSO QUANDO FA IL SUO SONNELLINO IN TANA

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you’re then in a wrestling match as you reel him
Note:DOPO AVER FICCATO LA PUNTA COMINCIA LA LOTTA

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Now you have a seal, but you have to cook it.
Note:COMINCIANO ALTRI PROBLEMI...NN C È LEGNA X CUCINARE

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To have a reliable fire, you’ll need to carve a lamp from soapstone
Note:PRIMA OP X AVERE UN FUOCO...OCCORRONO ANXHE GRASSO E MUSCHIO

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You will also need water. The pack ice is frozen salt water,
Note:L ACQUA DEI GHIACCI TI DISIDRATA PRIMA

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However, old sea ice has lost most of its salt,
Note:MA C È UN GHIACCIO SPECIALE DA RICONOSCERE X COLORE E DENSITÀ

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These few examples are just the tip of an iceberg of cultural know-how
Note:QS SONO SOLO ESEMPI DELLA CULTURA ARTICA

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making baskets, fishing weirs, sledges, snow goggles, medicines, or leisters (figure 3.1), not to mention all the knowledge of weather, snow, and ice conditions required for safe travel using a sledge.
Note:LA MATERIA È NFINITA

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no one could have survived getting stuck in the ice for two years
Note:TUTTAVIA...INUIT A PARTE

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After all, we are a tropical primate,
Note:D ALTRONDE

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25°C (−13°F) and −35°C (−31°F),
Note:TEMPERATURA TEMPERATURE NVERNALE SULL ISOLA

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It happens, however, that two other expeditions have found themselves also stranded on King William Island,
Note:MA ADESSO VIENE IL BELLO....UN PRECEDENTE E UNO DI POCO SUCCESSIVO

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both crews not only survived but went on to future explorations.
Note:QUALE IL SEGRETO DEL LORO SUCCESSO?

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John Ross and a crew of twenty-two
Note:50 ANNI PRIMA

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three years on the island,
Note:DI FATTO

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The secret of Ross’s success is not surprising; it was the Inuit.
Note:IL SEGRETO DEL SUCCESSO

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he managed to befriend the locals,
Note:Ccccccc

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learned about Inuit hunting, sealing, dogs, and traveling by dog sledge.
Note:IMPARARE COME UN BIMBO

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Ross’s sledge expeditions during this time always included parties of Inuit,
Note:DOPO

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lightweight sledges, based on Inuit designs,
Note:IMPIEGATE SEMPRE DA ROSS IN POI

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Roald Amundsen spent two winters on King William Island and three in the Arctic.
Note:50 ANNI DOPO FRANK....QALTRO CASO

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the first European to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage.
Note:SUCCESSONE

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Amundsen immediately sought out the Inuit and learned from them
Note:PRIMA MOSSA DOPO LE ESPERIENZE PASSATE

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beating Robert Scott to the South Pole.
Note:ALTRE DEBITO DI A.VERSO INUIT

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“Eskimo dress in winter
Note:GRANDE CONQ...GRAZIE INUIT

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Inuit snow houses
Note:FONDAMENTALE

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Some hapless group of European or American explorers find themselves lost, cut off, or otherwise stuck in some remote and seemingly inhospitable place. They eventually run out of provisions and increasingly struggle to find food and sometimes water. Their clothing gradually falls apart, and their shelters are typically insufficient. Disease often follows, as their ability to travel deteriorates. Cannibalism frequently occurs, as things get desperate.
Note:PROFILO DELLA TIPICA SPEDIZIONE FALLIMENTARE

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When some do survive, it’s because they fall in with a local indigenous
Note:LOCALI

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humans survive neither by our instinctual abilities to find food and shelter, nor by our individual capacities to improvise solutions “on the fly” to local environmental challenges. We can survive because, across generations, the selective processes of cultural evolution
Note:MORALE

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The Burke and Wills Expedition
Note:Tttttttttt

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the first European trip across the interior of Australia,
Note:SEDIZIONE BURKE

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soon had to begin eating their pack animals, which included six camels
Note:DISPERATI

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died of dysentery.
Note:IL PRIMO

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both of their two remaining camels died.
Note:ALTRO COLPO....CHI LA PORTA L ACQUA ORA?

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explorers managed to make peaceful contact with a local aboriginal group, the Yandruwandrha.
Note:LA SALVEZZA

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copied the Yandruwandrha women whom they had observed preparing the cakes.
Note:COPIARE

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it finally seemed they had a reliable source of calories.
Note:LA SALVEZZA

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the bowel movements caused by the nardoo:
Note:ALTRO NCONVENIENTE

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The stools it causes are enormous,
Note:EFFETTI DEL NARDOO

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Burke and Wills died
Note:ENTRO UNA SETIMANA

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King managed to continue by appealing to the Yandruwandrha,
Note:LA SALVEZZA

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nardoo is indigestible and at least mildly toxic unless properly processed.
Note:COME MOLTE PIANTE DEI CACCIATORI

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Low levels of thiamine cause the disease beriberi, resulting in extreme fatigue, muscle wasting,
Note:COSA PROCURA L ASSUNZIONE DIRETTA

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they grind and leach the flour with copious amounts of water, which increases digestibility and decreases concentrations of the vitamin B1-destroying thiaminase.
Note:TRATTAMENTI A CUI SOTTOPORRE IL NARDOO

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flour is directly exposed to ash during heating, which lowers its pH
Note:SECONDO TRATTAMENTO

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nardoo gruel is consumed using only mussel shells, which may restrict the thiaminase’s access to an organic substrate that is needed to fully initiate the B1-destroying reaction.
Note:TERZO ANTIDOTO

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subtle and nuanced detoxification practices
Note:CIÒ CHE GLI OCCIDENTALI IGNORAVANO

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Their chances of learning from the locals, like Ross and Amundsen did, was diminished by Burke’s flights of anger and impatience with the Yandruwandrha.
Note:COSA COMPROMISE LA SORTE DEI TRE

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in response to their requests for gifts, he fired a shot over their heads, and they disappeared.
Note:UNA CATTIVA MOSSA

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The Narváez Expedition
Note:Ttttttttttt

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In 1528, just north of Tampa Bay (Florida), Pánfilo Narváez made a crucial mistake.
Note:ALTRO CASO

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in search of the fabled cities of gold
Note:300

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dealing treacherously with the locals,
Note:L ERRORE

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The now-scattered Spanish parties starved, sometimes engaging in cannibalism, until they were aided by peaceful Karankawa hunter-gatherers, who had long lived along the Texas coast.
Note:DOPO UN NAUFRAGIO SU BARCHE AUTOCOSTRUITE

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one of these groups got better at finding food, having learned from the locals to harvest seaweed and oysters.
Note:LA SOLUZIONE È SEMPRE QUELLA

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particularly tall, robust, and healthy-looking.
Note:COME VENIVANO DESCRITTI I SELVAGGI DI QUELLE TERRE INFELICI

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a rich and bountiful environment for hunter-gatherers, if you knew what you were doing.
Note:EVIDENTEMENTE

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Having barely survived to arrive at this point, the remaining adventurers were promptly enslaved by these fiercer Karankawa and may have been forced into female gender roles.
Note:MEGLIO SCHIAVI CHE MORTI...LA FEMMINUCCIA

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the foursome had managed to survive by adopting a valued social role in these aboriginal American societies.
Note:IL CASO DEI RAPITI E LA LORO ARMA DI SOPRAVVIVENZA

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The Lone Woman
Note:Ttttttt

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a lone young woman who found herself stranded for eighteen years in the place she grew up.
Note:IL CFR CON UN ALTRO CASO DI ISOLAMENTO

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Seventy miles off the coast of Los Angeles,
Note:IL POSTO

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foggy, barren, and windswept San Nicolas Island was once inhabited by a thriving aboriginal society
Note:SAN NICOLAS

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the island’s population was dwindling, in part due to a massacre by Kodiak
Note:1830

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During a rushed evacuation, one young native woman in her mid-twenties dashed off to search for her missing child.
Note:COME SI RITROVÒ SOLA

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she was largely (but not entirely) forgotten.
Note:SORTE

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this lone castaway ate seals, shellfish, sea birds, fish, and various roots.
Note:CIBO...PER 18 ANNI

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She deposited dried meats on different parts of the island for times of sickness or other emergencies.
Note:DEPOSITI

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bone knives, needles, bone awls, shell fishhooks, and sinew fishing lines.
Note:ATREZZI

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in whalebone houses
Note:RESIDENZA

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waterproof tunics by sewing together seagull skins with the feathers
Note:VESTITO

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sandals woven from grasses.
Note:SCARPE

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described as being in “fine physical condition”
Note:AL RITROVAMENTO

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the lone woman promptly offered the search party dinner,
Note:AI SUOI SALVATORI.... MORI POCO DOPO IL RITROVAMENTO ON ISOPLAMENTO...NESSUNO PARLAVA PIÙ LA SUA LINGUA

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One lone woman equipped with only the cumulative know-how
Note:L IGNORANTE ACCULTURATA

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These diverse cases testify to the nature of our species’ adaptation.
Note:MORALE DELLE STORIE

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While our attention, cooperative tendencies, and cognitive abilities have likely been shaped by natural selection to life in our ancestral environments, these genetically evolved psychological adaptations are entirely insufficient
Note:I GRANDI DONI....INSUFFICIENTI

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Neither our intelligence nor domain-specific psychological abilities fire up to distinguish edible from toxic
Note:QUANTO SIAMO PICCOLI

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Our species’ uniqueness, and thus our ecological dominance, arises from the manner in which cultural evolution, often operating over centuries or millennia, can assemble cultural adaptations.
Note:IL NS PUNTO DI FORZA

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our abilities to learn from others,
Note:CENTRALE

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an enduring culture-gene co-evolutionary duet
L ESITO