Some might think why have the females in a physically exhausting endurance effort? In a canoe, females lower center of gravity helps tremendously. And for many hours of continuous paddling, often males will have mental break down before the females. The Texas Water Safari is an endurance canoe race starting in San Marcos, similar to this crossing with regards to duration, effort required. The winning boat this year had two females. Ask any racer in that comparator, they will agree with regards to the anatomy and mental differences with regards to men and women.
The actual article from the researchers discusses their choices:
> The boat was paddled by a mixed team consisting of four men (paddlers) and one woman (steerer), without replacement by other paddlers on the way. The inclusion of both men and women is essential because our focus is ancient migration, not men’s adventure. An unstable, round-bottomed dugout required skilled paddlers to control it on the open sea. Furthermore, because this type of boat does not travel in a straight direction but instead snakes its way, the skill of the steerer is crucial for optimizing its performance. Considering these factors, we invited professional and semi-professional sea kayakers as the paddlers and steerer.
And ... this wasn't a race? Perhaps 5 women could have gotten there faster, but speed wasn't the primary goal.
I don't know anything about paddle sports specifically, but I have seen a discussion about sex differences in performance in other endurance sports, and one important distinction is that women as a group can have average pace times that are faster than men as a group, even when most of the outright winners are men.
From the article - it would have been a one way trip to seafarers 30000 years ago (without the thorough mapping of the strong currents prevalent between Japan and the two hypothesized origins available to the scientists now). There was no round trip. Women had to make that voyage 30000 years ago to make human settlement viable.
The problem with these kind of experiments and „determinations“ really is that we expect nowadays to be „all-knowing“. It shows the -at this point of time- most plausible route. Valid. But does it help without any sociological perspectives?
Old Roman Stoa for example, dictated people do act accordingly (the famous general comes in mind who actively went back to captivity and death after being freed based on values according to the stoic lifestyle). Not everyone lived according to its teaching, but some did and acted „unnatural“.
So what if those people back then had other beliefs that made them act accordingly „unnatural“ to us nowadays? Till this can be excluded with a certainty, this study is merely a shallow response and let’s people believe uncertainties instead of knowing historical facts.
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[ 3.9 ms ] story [ 28.4 ms ] threadMost triathlons are probably won by men and global exploratory voyages were first accomplished by men...
Not saying your wrong I'm asking what I'm missing?
> The boat was paddled by a mixed team consisting of four men (paddlers) and one woman (steerer), without replacement by other paddlers on the way. The inclusion of both men and women is essential because our focus is ancient migration, not men’s adventure. An unstable, round-bottomed dugout required skilled paddlers to control it on the open sea. Furthermore, because this type of boat does not travel in a straight direction but instead snakes its way, the skill of the steerer is crucial for optimizing its performance. Considering these factors, we invited professional and semi-professional sea kayakers as the paddlers and steerer.
And ... this wasn't a race? Perhaps 5 women could have gotten there faster, but speed wasn't the primary goal.
I don't know anything about paddle sports specifically, but I have seen a discussion about sex differences in performance in other endurance sports, and one important distinction is that women as a group can have average pace times that are faster than men as a group, even when most of the outright winners are men.
https://archive.is/5nx7X#selection-4259.0-4259.255
https://trainright.com/women-faster-than-men-ultramarathon/
> Dr. Kaifu noted that the islands could be spied from the top of one of Taiwan’s coastal mountains, indicating intentional travel
Image?
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Yo...
So what if those people back then had other beliefs that made them act accordingly „unnatural“ to us nowadays? Till this can be excluded with a certainty, this study is merely a shallow response and let’s people believe uncertainties instead of knowing historical facts.