October 09, 2011

Polynesians visited before Columbus?

Reframing Columbus Day

By Jessica CrabtreePolynesian trade with the Pacific Coast

There is a growing body of evidence that Polynesian sailors reached the Americas long before the 15th century, setting up an exchange that left clues on both sides of the Pacific. The Polynesians are an optimal candidate in the search for pre-Columbian contact, because they had both the technology and the motive to reach the Americas.

The prime evidence:

Chickens: Ancient remains of chickens found on the coast of Chile predate the arrival of domesticated breeds introduced by European colonists. There were no chickens indigenous to the Americas; they are native to Southeast Asia where they were first domesticated and later brought as far east as the Pacific islands. Obviously their presence in Chile could not be explained as a simple case of migratory spread. The carbon dating of the chicken bones gave them a tentative age of 600 years, right around the peak of the Polynesian's Pacific expansion.

Sweet potatoes: As part of the Columbian Exchange, many of the New World's important native food crops—including maize, potatoes and cacao—were transported to Europe, Asia and Africa where they became fundamental commodities. One of these crops, the sweet potato, has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years by peoples in Central and South America, where it first originated. Apart from direct human introduction, it is difficult to account for sweet potato cultivation by the Polynesians dating back more than a millennia. (Sweet potatoes propagate through tubers or plant cuttings, not by seeds that can be windblown or spread by birds.) It is even more difficult to explain how they came to be called by almost identical names in both regions.

There are even deeper connections on the horizon. Many researchers point to linguistic similarities and parallels in artifacts found in the Polynesia Pacific (including Easter Island) and in America's Pacific coast cultures. Such suggestions of an information and technology exchange may be circumstantial at best. But there is considerable support rising from other fronts, not the least of which is recent DNA research confirming the exchange of much more than just trade goods.
Comment:  For more on migration theories, see Debating Chief Joseph's Cuneiform Tablet and Anthro in RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1.

5 comments:

Jaine said...

Hardly new news, well not in the Pacific it's not. I remember my lecturer sailing from New Zealand to South America in the early 80s on a traditional Polyneasian waka hourua using only traditional celestial navigation. Then there's Tupaia who really was a genius - without any prior knowledge of writing or mapmaking he drew a chart of the Pacific that encompassed every major group in Polyneasia and extended more than 4000 kms. It is unlikely Captain Cook would have acheived what he did in the South Pacific without him yet Tupaia is largely ignored in the popular Capt Cook legend. I'm sure readers of this blog know why but I'm digressing.

dmarks said...

Most of these claims are bogus, hoaxes, and fakes. There are so many of them. It's like UFO stories. Only one of these pre-Columbian contact claims has yet proven true: the Vikings at Vinland.

Anonymous said...

Actually this has been long proven true. Both Polynesian and Native oral history agrees with this. And researchers found DNA evidence, five tribes wqith Polynesian DNA markers, in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, BC Canada, and near what's today Los Angeles, the Gabrielinos tribe.

dmarks said...

Those are hoaxes as well.

Jaine said...

Not hoaxes dmark, the kumara (sweet potato) didn't float to New Zealand from South America - it was brought here by Maori. Do you seriously think Polyneasians settled Easter Island but didn't explore the waters further east of them?

Can you show the evidence that proves this pre-Columbian contact to be false? What has been proven false is that Polyneasians originated from South America (aka Thor Heyerdahl), not that they didn't get there.