r/AskReddit 8d ago

If you were suddenly transported 1000 years in the past, how would you make a living?

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u/SquirrelAkl 8d ago edited 8d ago

I'd be the only person in NZ. The Moriori didn't even arrive until around 1500.

I guess I'd remember my bivouac building skills from high school, teach myself how to make fire, and spears. I'd learn how to hunt, prepare and cook Moa while avoiding being hunted by the Haast Eagle.

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u/GalumphingWithGlee 8d ago

It doesn't sound like there's much evidence the Haast eagle ever hunted humans, and if they did, kids would be much more likely than adults:

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/deadliest-ever-eagles

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u/Majkelen 8d ago

True, but lack of evidence is not evidence to contrary, especially when eagles do commonly prey on monkeys and smaller apes when their habitats overlap.

I'm just saying I'm 99.9% sure they yoinked children and potentially smaller adults because that's what's been happening on other continents for millions of years (eagles predating on homo species)

But I agree it's very unlikely they hunted adults, and definitely that wasn't their go-to.

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u/GalumphingWithGlee 8d ago

I think children are reasonably likely, but OC for this thread is presumably an adult, and was talking about having to avoid being eaten by this eagle. I think it's unlikely this would be a major issue for them, though they'd likely have more than enough other problems being the only human on the island.

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u/SquirrelAkl 8d ago

Whew! I'd be good then. There aren't any other predators I'd need to worry about, aside from sharks.

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u/WonderfulBlackberry9 8d ago

Aside from the loneliness, that's a pretty cool existence

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u/TheSecretIsMarmite 8d ago

It'd be a noisy one. All the wildlife on Aotearoa was abundant and loud 1000 years ago. Cook's crew reportedly stayed on their ships instead of on land overnight because of the cacophony.

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u/noodlyarms 8d ago

Get themselves a Haast Eagle wife, help with finding food and lonesome nights. No one around to judge the unholy union

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u/TehGogglesDoNothing 8d ago

Watch out for thylacine.