In the footsteps of explorers
Photo: Hermann Schaaffhausen, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Since the beginning of humanity, people have been finding and exploring new lands. But have you ever imagined following the voyages by Polynesians through the tropical islands of Oceania or Amundsen and Scott's routes to the South Pole? Or the routes of Phoenician traders around the Mediterranean?
This article presents an incomplete list of some of humanity's explorers and places where you can learn about their history.
Early explorersAnthropologists believe that the genus Homo, which includes modern man and several earlier species, developed in the Great Rift Valley in Africa, and spread out from there; see Paleontology.
The Age of DiscoveryThe period from the 15th century to the late 18th, when Europeans set sail to discover and explore other lands, also marked the beginning of European colonialism and mercantilism, as well as the beginning of…
Later explorersBellingshausen (1778-1852) was a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer of Baltic German extraction, who participated in the First Russian circumnavigation of the globe (1803–1806).
Overland explorersThe Chinese civilization started around the Yellow River basin, and its first historically confirmed dynasty, the Shang Dynasty (c. 1700-1027 BCE) ruled only that area.
Polar explorersThe polar regions were explored mainly in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Mountain explorersMountaineering on well-travelled routes is mainly a recreation, but some mountaineers go to places no-one has been before and can be counted as explorers.
Stay safeAll the explorers mentioned were brave men and the journeys they undertook were quite dangerous at the time.
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "In the footsteps of explorers" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Hermann Schaaffhausen, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons