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So really, you don't even need to make any changes, apart from wiping out those pesky Norse adventurers, and making it so that the continents didn't have any convenient paths between them, like "hey if you just follow the edge of the sea ice west from Norway, you get to a MacDonald's!".

So really, you don't even need to make any changes, apart from wiping out those pesky Norse adventurers, and making it so that the continents didn't have any convenient paths between them, like "hey if you just follow the edge of the sea ice west from Norway, you get to a McDonald's!".

[I've tried to be hard science about my statements and claims, but it's hard to give hard science evidence that "if history had been different, then X would have happened"]

Historical precedence

https://www.ancient.eu/img/r/p/750x750/68.png [Greek trade routes, via Ancient History Encyclopaedia]

Historical precedence

[Greek trade routes, via Ancient History Encyclopaedia]

On Earth, we may well have taken to the water due to an aquatic phase in our evolution... but whether or not that is the case, we stuck by the water because it's a fantastic source of nutrition, such as DHA, an omega-3 found abundantly in human brains and in aquatic foods. This aquatic aspect of our diet may well have contributed to our large brains. Oh, and salt, we use a LOT of that, with our abnormal behaviors like sweating and crying.

(I see @Kari beat me to this one, darn! Updoot for Kari!)

On Earth, we may well have taken to the water due to an aquatic phase in our evolution... but whether or not that is the case, we stuck by the water because it's a fantastic source of nutrition, such as DHA, an omega-3 found abundantly in human brains and in aquatic foods. This aquatic aspect of our diet may well have contributed to our large brains. Oh, and salt, we use a LOT of that, with our abnormal behaviors like sweating and crying.