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Re: Hauksbok treated as an artifact - content of text part 1

Subject: Re: Hauksbok treated as an artifact - content of text part 1
From: Erik Hammerstad
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2006 20:38:19 +0200
Newsgroups: sci.archaeology, soc.history.medieval
Peter Alaca wrote:
Alan Crozier wrote: news:wAxog.6625$E02.1955@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[...]
In other words, your interpretation of the saga is very selective. Not
many details support you. You have to ignore too many other details
which contradict your theory.
[...]

She only uses a mentioning of a ship ending up in
Ireland, ignores the wind, and tracts the Gulfstream
back to where she says a norse settlement was.
That is not just selective, but a selective contsruction
of evidence for a preconception.
A deadly sin for any scholar.


Of course here we see IEJ's standard procedure, first the conclusion (which usually is that Norse but especially Swedes have done something great, not recognized by anyone but kooks), then find anything that might support the conclusion, disregarding any uncertainty and anything that speaks against it, declare the conclusion proven - and then violently ignore any contra arguments, quite often in a very abusive fashion.

You are so right, IEJ is definitely _not_ a scholar.

And by the way, her drift origin theory is as stupid as it gets, it ignores wind and assumes that all capability for sailing has been lost. Actually being blown downwind due to a westerly gale would move the origin Northwards, making Labrador or Newfoundland the most probable origin if we assume sailing capability to have been lost - and if not, any origin is of course possible. IEJ's origin would place a drifting ship's eastern landing in the Azores, Canaries, Africa or possibly even in the Caribbean - definitely not Ireland.

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