Abstract:
Traditionally, Antarctic history focuses on exploration and ideas during the five most recent centuries. However, before this time, one discovers many ideas about what lay to the south, as well as some voyages beyond the southernmost regions known to the sailors’ culture. And these activities were not limited to Greco-Roman Civilization and its Western European heirs. Important ancient and medieval developments also occurred in the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Geographical theories often varied even within a given culture. Also, the author reviews some recent positions on activities during these early eras.