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It's also possible that Polynesians visited North America. The Chumash people had relatively sophisticated canoes called tomols which have planks that are sewn
by ravenstine 6y ago
It's also possible that Polynesians visited North America. The Chumash people had relatively sophisticated canoes called tomols which have planks that are sewn together, which was a technique unique to them in North America, but has been seen in Polynesian and South American boat construction.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Foil.piratelab.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2Fsb-07-tomol.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fo...
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24433 http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24433
> Archaeologist Terry Jones of California Polytechnic State University acknowledges that the Malibu Lagoon Chumash could have encountered Polynesian master navigators, who gave their tomol building skills to the Chumash.
> Among North American Indians, only the Chumash, and later the neighboring Gabrielino, built sewn-plank canoes. In the Western Hemisphere, this technology is otherwise known only from the coast of Chile and among Pacific Islanders. The tomols were able to carry large loads for long distances which could allowed for navigation across the Pacific.
I can't seem to find information on whether there's a confirmed Polynesian genetic connection to the Chumash. Probably unlikely, but I've always found the idea interesting.
- catalogia 6y agoIt seems conceivable, although probably unlikely, they might have learned the technique from Polynesian flotsam.
- BurningFrog 6y agoSome Polynesian canoe(s) drifting shore in California seems the simpler theory.
- ravenstine 6y agoTrue. That, too, is an interesting hypothesis.
- waheoo 6y agoThe simpler theory is simultaneous invention. Little hard to prove either though.
- labster 6y agoWe do have a lot of tar washing up on the beach around here, which is a needed to make a Chumash canoe. Available resources determines what you can make, too.
- walrus01 6y agoThe amount of stuff that drifted and washed up on BC, WA, OR beaches after the 2011 tsunami was quite varied. It's not entirely impossible that some canoes went adrift and later ended up on Pacific Northwest beaches...
- aunty_helen 6y agoSomething slightly related, but mostly of a tangential interest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_bell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_bell The Maori population also having descended from the Pacific Island Polynesians.
- quixoticelixer- 6y agoMoari polynesian
- willvarfar 6y agoFascinating trivia: Madagascar was populated by the Polynesians https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Madagascar#A_common_Austronesian_origin:_The_Vahoaka_Ntaolo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Madagascar#A_common...
- gquiniou 6y agoNo, it was people from Sunda Islands (now Indonesia) who are also austronesians.
- saberdancer 6y agoTraders from Chile are another option.
- beowulfey 6y agoIt’s possible, but imagine you find a decrepit alien structure on the shoreline. You’ve never encountered it before. Do you think this broken down structure is going to easily give you answers? Do you think you’ll be able to recreate its building techniques without guidance to build a fully working one (even though this one may be incomplete)? I think this scenario is less likely than being trained by a fellow human. Unfortunately, unless there is evidence of genetic admixture it may remain uncertain.