NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Ancient mariners enjoyed Hawaiian holidays
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2007 Nov 4, 09:28 +1100
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2007 Nov 4, 09:28 +1100
Earlier I wrote:
"... there is now good evidence that (at least most of) the ancestors of the present Pacific peoples originally came from South East Asia - and not all that long ago ..."
This has long been a controversial topic swarming with exotic and entertaining ideas. The question now seems fairly settled due to DNA samplings, so I understand.
However, there is some possibility of other intermingling of populations, in the Pacific as elsewhere. For example, commentators who know both places have noticed striking similarities between some aspects of Polynesian culture and those of the indigenous North American Indians of the northeastern Pacific (well, northwest Pacific coast if you're located in that continent, I guess). Those tribes of fairly high latitudes, apparently, in what is now Canada, rather than the tropical regions closer to the Polynesian heartland.
More bizarrely, a largish red-haired folk that were described as being similar to Europeans came to Easter Island AFTER Polynesians settled there, in comparatively recent times. Old people of that place could remember (or could remember being told by old people when they were young - of such material comes this tale, although I have heard it from more than one source) that not so long ago some people were still physically distinctive from the rest of the community, for this obvious reason.
I have no explanation to offer, apart from the obvious one of the crew of a European ship being marooned there, but I can't help reflecting that Eric von Danikon would have been delighted by such news, had he heard it.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
"... there is now good evidence that (at least most of) the ancestors of the present Pacific peoples originally came from South East Asia - and not all that long ago ..."
This has long been a controversial topic swarming with exotic and entertaining ideas. The question now seems fairly settled due to DNA samplings, so I understand.
However, there is some possibility of other intermingling of populations, in the Pacific as elsewhere. For example, commentators who know both places have noticed striking similarities between some aspects of Polynesian culture and those of the indigenous North American Indians of the northeastern Pacific (well, northwest Pacific coast if you're located in that continent, I guess). Those tribes of fairly high latitudes, apparently, in what is now Canada, rather than the tropical regions closer to the Polynesian heartland.
More bizarrely, a largish red-haired folk that were described as being similar to Europeans came to Easter Island AFTER Polynesians settled there, in comparatively recent times. Old people of that place could remember (or could remember being told by old people when they were young - of such material comes this tale, although I have heard it from more than one source) that not so long ago some people were still physically distinctive from the rest of the community, for this obvious reason.
I have no explanation to offer, apart from the obvious one of the crew of a European ship being marooned there, but I can't help reflecting that Eric von Danikon would have been delighted by such news, had he heard it.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
