4 ms·
I’d assumed this was likely as the trip was done from South America in recent history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki_expedition https://en.m.wikipedi
by OnlyMortal 5y ago
I’d assumed this was likely as the trip was done from South America in recent history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki_expedition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki_expedition
I also understand there’re plants in parts of South America that originated in Polynesia.
- jaratec 5y agoIt is the other way around. The sweet potato is natively from America, but it made it to Polynesia, unclear how.
- throwaway2048 5y agoThe fact that the leading theory of anthropologists for a long time was vegetation rafts is laughable in the face of the distances Polynesian people regularly traveled, it speaks to the parochial nature of much of the field.
- scq 5y agoSweet potatoes found in Polynesia diverged from their ancestors in the Americas 100,000 years ago, long before the islands were colonized by humans. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04488-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04488-4
- nkoren 5y agoAlso, the fact that many Polynesian languages used nearly the same word for "sweet potato" as some South American languages (kuumala -- Polynesian vs. kumara/cumal -- Quechua) is kind of a clue, yes? The fact that the "vegetation raft" theory persisted for more than a few seconds in the face of this knowledge always astonished me.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- eythian 5y agoNot just nearly the same. It's literally kūmara in Māori.
- billfruit 5y agoIs it the same "Tombez Potato" writers of the 19th century report as being commonly grown and consumed in the Pacific Islands like Marquesas?