Tides of History The Last Mailbag!
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Mar 5, 2026 A lively mailbag covering who would dominate social media in the past, from Martin Luther’s pamphlet tactics to Benjamin Franklin’s wit. Discussions hop from origins of bows and horseback riding to new prehistory finds and Roman mining. There are debates on judging conquistadors, how ancient letters were compiled, ancient DNA limits, and how making the show reshaped the presenter's research interests.
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Bow and Arrow Evolved From Atlatl Use
- The bow and arrow likely evolved from atlatl spear-thrower technology and rose in importance after the Younger Dryas.
- Wyman notes bows are especially useful for interpersonal violence and become widespread with higher population densities in the Mesolithic/Neolithic.
Great Basin Finds Are Reshaping Paleoamerican History
- New organic artifacts and aDNA from the Great Basin and Paleoamericas are rapidly reshaping migration timelines.
- Wyman points to freshly published organic Clovis-period remains and the White Sands footprints as game-changing evidence.
Medieval Letters Were Curated Models Not Raw Archives
- Early letter collections were produced by dictation, copied by scribes, and curated as model manuals rather than verbatim archives.
- Wyman cites Sidonius and Cassiodorus, noting authors organized, redacted, and removed names to teach letter-writing styles.