Early Easter Island had contact with South America

[Maxmars]

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?
 

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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.

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