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The Inuit are well adapted to survive a harsh arctic environment. Do you think they would have been able to colonize Antarctica had they an opportunity in the past? Would they have been able to survive there? Curious to hear thoughts.
The Inuit are well adapted to survive a harsh arctic environment. Do you think they would have been able to colonize Antarctica had they an opportunity in the past? Would they have been able to survive there? Curious to hear thoughts.
Yes. They would be able to survive if there were seals, and Antarctica has seals. Seals are the main staple for Inuit people, and with the plentiful seals and whales in the area they would have been able to make a go of it I think. It's a bit cold there, even for them, but they'd be helped along by the absence of predators like polar bears and wolves, and the presence of penguins who I'd imagine are really easy to hunt and would make an excellent source of heating oil, bones, and meat.
I'm not so sure that all it takes is seals for Inuit to survive and thrive. They also eat small land mammals, which are absent in Antarctica, and there are no fur-bearing animals for them to make warm clothes from, there. Some Inuit hunt reindeer rather than marine mammals. I think their dietary and other needs are more complex than what Antarctica has to offer.
I'm not so sure that all it takes is seals for Inuit to survive and thrive. They also eat small land mammals, which are absent in Antarctica, and there are no fur-bearing animals for them to make warm clothes from, there. Some Inuit hunt reindeer rather than marine mammals. I think their dietary and other needs are more complex than what Antarctica has to offer.
That's true about the fur... I wonder if they could somehow use penguin feathers to make clothes with?
Assuming the Inuit were magically teleported to Antarctica, I don't think so. I think it wouldn't have enough resources for tool making, so they'd need to rely on a significant amount of trade. And Antarctica isn't easy to reach: In Canada all those islands are connected by ice and they can migrate to warmer, more resourceful areas as needed. The closest place to trade with or migrate to is Tierra del Fuego, and that's hundreds of miles of violent sea away and never freezes over.
Coastal Antarctica isn't as cold as the interior so if they had some how landed on Antarctica, they would have been able to survive, at least along the coast. Does seal skin make for a warm coat?
They can always adapt and fish instead of hunting game.
Coastal Antarctica isn't as cold as the interior so if they had some how landed on Antarctica, they would have been able to survive, at least along the coast. Does seal skin make for a warm coat?
They can always adapt and fish instead of hunting game.
Perhaps they could have brought young polar bears to the continent...
I think polar bears could have thrived in Antarctica by eating penguins and that would have provided them with plenty of fur for warm clothes.
I'm not so sure that all it takes is seals for Inuit to survive and thrive. They also eat small land mammals, which are absent in Antarctica, and there are no fur-bearing animals for them to make warm clothes from, there. Some Inuit hunt reindeer rather than marine mammals. I think their dietary and other needs are more complex than what Antarctica has to offer.
^^^This and Antarctica has much harsher winter temperatures than the arctic. That combined with no fur bearing animals would mean a no in my opinion. Nothing lives on Antarctica that can't either fly or swim away.
Perhaps they could have brought young polar bears to the continent...
I think polar bears could have thrived in Antarctica by eating penguins and that would have provided them with plenty of fur for warm clothes.
Or, the Polar Bears could just eat the seals there.
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