Kon-Tiki or ...

[dieseltaylor]

I have been intrigued by the idea that there was more contact than thought in ancient times:

both links are at the AAS so unless you are a member you cannot go further than the summary

Beyond Kon-Tiki: Did Polynesians Sail to South America?

Andrew Lawler An ambitious drive is under way to settle a long-standing controversy among archaeologists and anthropologists. Considered the realm of crackpot theorists until recently, the idea of prehistoric contact between Polynesians and South Americans has gone mainstream. A new generation of researchers is using DNA analysis of varied organisms such as humans, chickens, and sweet potatoes to add compelling data to a case previously based on more nebulous linguistic and artifact similarities. Given current views of Polynesian expansion (see "Changing Time in the South Pacific"), many researchers now think it likely that Polynesians reached South America by about 1200 C.E., after the settlement of Easter Island, and several centuries before Europeans arrived around 1500 C.E. Some skeptics point out that there is still no incontrovertible evidence that Polynesians went to South America and then returned to Pacific islands, and contact with North America remains questionable (see "Northern Exposure in Doubt"). But many researchers agree that resistance to the idea of prehistoric contact is starting to crumble, giving archaeologists a chance to rethink the way technology and innovations spread in prehistory.

Northern Exposure in Doubt

Andrew Lawler In the 1930s, famed anthropologist Alfred Kroeber noted that the Chumash Indians of Southern California made sophisticated sewn-plank boats remarkably like those constructed in Hawaii more than 4000 kilometers to the west. He suggested prehistoric Polynesian contact as the source of the Chumash technique. Now an archaeologist and a linguist are seeking to prove that old theory. But while researchers are making strides in demonstrating a connection between South America and Polynesia (see main text), the idea that California Indians learned from Hawaiians faces an uphill struggle. Questions about timing make many archaeologists skeptical.

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[Michael Emrys]

Side note: Alfred Kroeber was the father of science fiction writer Ursula K. LeGuin. Many of her writings have a distinct anthropological flavor.

Michael