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+--- Thread: Early Easter Island had contact with South America (/Thread-Early-Easter-Island-had-contact-with-South-America)
Early Easter Island had contact with South America - Maxmars - 03-22-2024
I actually thought that the Easter Island habitants were totally isolated from other peoples, and had been until explorers "found" them.
I had to update myself on that note because apparently early on they had contact with people from South America, and scientists have proved it in multiple ways, from items excavated in early settlements, to analysis of the starches contained in their foods.
From Archeology: Early Settlers of Rapa Nui Had Contact With South America
From LiveScience: Obsidian blades with food traces reveal 1st settlers of Rapa Nui had regular contact with South Americans 1,000 years ago
And citing a PLOS ONE journal: Identification of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and South American crops introduced during early settlement of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), as revealed through starch analysis
One thousand years ago, the first settlers of Rapa Nui — also known as Easter Island — feasted on a fusion cuisine of plants native to Polynesia but also ones indigenous to South America, around 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) away, a new study finds.
Researchers discovered the food remnants by identifying starch grains clinging to obsidian blades at the archaeological site of Anakena, the earliest known settlement on Rapa Nui, which was occupied from about A.D. 1000 to 1300, according to the study, published Wednesday (March 20) in the journal PLOS One. The finding suggests that the early Polynesians had regular contact with the people of South America as far back as a millennium ago.
RE: Early Easter Island had contact with South America - quintessentone - 03-23-2024
How do they know there was contact between the different peoples and not that the seeds of those crops arrived on Easter Island by travel by sea - as coconut seeds do? I mean is all they are basing that assumption on is the remains on the blade? I would have thought any contact between peoples of different regions of the world would include trade of goods (?) and intermarriage (?) and a blend of customs/cooking (?)
https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2021/02/05/seeds-travel-by-sea/#:~:text=Many%20plants%20that%20grow%20near%20water%20disperse%20their,contain%20an%20air%20pocket%20to%20keep%20them%20buoyant.
RE: Early Easter Island had contact with South America - Maxmars - 03-23-2024
(03-23-2024, 09:18 AM)quintessentone Wrote: How do they know there was contact between the different peoples and not that the seeds of those crops arrived on Easter Island by travel by sea - as coconut seeds do? I mean is all they are basing that assumption on is the remains on the blade? I would have thought any contact between peoples of different regions of the world would include trade of goods (?) and intermarriage (?) and a blend of customs/cooking (?)
https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2021/02/05/seeds-travel-by-sea/#:~:text=Many%20plants%20that%20grow%20near%20water%20disperse%20their,contain%20an%20air%20pocket%20to%20keep%20them%20buoyant.
I can't really answer that question, and I do see the 'assumptive' nature of the assertions. I suspect there are probably elements of "both." Perhaps Rapa Nui inhabitants came and went over time, some may have experienced some manner of contact with South America, and some with the islands to the west, but each group was ignorant of the knowledge of the others. (But that's me just 'winging it' as I have no training in the broader subject.)
I just thought it was interesting as an academic idea. I only mean to promote the theory's explanation, not the theory itself.
RE: Early Easter Island had contact with South America - Maxmars - 03-23-2024
Here's another article, reportedly based upon the same research paper cited above. But they've made a further leap in the assertion...
From Ancient Origins: Rapa Nui Obsidian Discovery: Did the Islanders sail to America?
Evidence suggests that regular contact was maintained between early Polynesians and South Americans dating back a millennium, wherein the former would travel to South America and interact with the inhabitants, before voyaging back.
RE: Early Easter Island had contact with South America - NeoAstra - 04-23-2024
I think we don't give ancient peoples enough credit, humans are explorers by default.
makes me wonder just how much "tech" or "skills" the rapa nuians had.
These dudes blew our minds with their heads, why couldn't they sail the seas?
