by Horwood Beer-Master wrote:Regardless of whether-or-not chickens provide the evidence; I'd be frankly shocked if no Polynesians ever made it to South America.
These people had managed to cross vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean, reached most of the tiny specks of land to be found in it (including some of the most physically remote islands on Earth), and we're supposed to believe that in all that time they somehow never encountered the massive great landmass on the other side? Surely it's a hard target to miss?
The gap distance the most westerly lands the Polynesians are known to have reached and the American mainland couldn't have been so much vaster or more challenging than distances they'd already covered up to that point.
I agree, seeing where they made it that far, why not all the way to North or South America, a gigantic target?
It would be nice if there were slam-dunk evidence available.
According to Wiki, the people who settled Easter Island probably came from the Marquesas Islands, which is almost equidistant from Easter island as Chile is, 2200 or so miles. But coming from the Marquesas, they theoretically could have made stops on some tiny outcrops in eastern French Polyneisa that were already known by them, and then in the Pitcairn islands that were already known. From Ducie island it's 972 miles on to Easter Island. Heading east the 2200 miles from Easter Island to Chile, there doesn't even look like many outcrops to stop at on Google Earth.
They apparently didn't settle the Galapogos Islands, though someone found it -
According to a 1952 study by Thor Heyerdahl and Arne Skjølsvold, remains of potsherds and other artifacts from several sites on the islands suggest visitation by South American peoples prior to the arrival of the Spanish.[10] However, no remains of graves, ceremonial vessels and constructions have ever been found, suggesting no permanent settlement occurred at the time.[11]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands#History There may be evidence they were in Mocha Island just off of Chile -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mocha_Island#Polynesian_contact
