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There is convincing biogeographical evidence that the Polynesians not
only sailed to South America, but sailed back.  It is that the sweet
potato (Ipomoea batatas) undoubtedly originated in South America, but
was cultivated across the entire Pacific, up to Japan, prior to the
advent of Europeans.  The botanical evidence that the sweet potato
originated in South America is very very strong.  That the
Polynesians reached as far as Hawaii and Easter Islands also suggests
that they would have little difficulty reaching South America.

I still remember looking with amazement at a photo of the naked
backside of an Indonesian farmer leaning on a hoe and gazing out at
his large (5-10 acres), immaculate field of sweet potatoes.  Lack of
clothes don't necessarily imply that somebody is primitive.

Fred Hebard

On Jun 6, 2007, at 10:40 AM, Lu Abel wrote:

>
> PF . wrote:
>> ABOUT HOW A PRE-COLUMBIAN CHOOK PROVIDES COMPELLING EVIDENCE OF
>> POLYNESIAN NAVIGATIONAL PROWESS, WHICH LEAD TO INTERACTION WITH SOUTH
>> AMERICA
>
> Fascinating, but I wonder if there are Alternatives to some of the
> conclusions.  For example, might it be possible that these Polynesians
> were simply blown to South America by a storm rather than deliberately
> voyaging there?   Given that the Polynesians reached Hawaii and the
> coast of North America is much farther west than the coast of South
> America, why is there no evidence of Polynesian activity in North
> America?
>
> Also, about 5~10 years ago there was a similar discovery, but this
> time
> it was pre-Columbian pottery shards that were of distinctly Japanese
> origin.   After the initial publicity, little has been said about that
> discovery.
>
> Not trying to put down what may be an important and fascinating
> discovery, just wondering about how far it is reasonable to
> extrapolate
> from a single chicken bone....
>
> Lu Abel
>
> >



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