FW: [Aztlan] Meso trade in Hawaii

[Clifford T. Brown]

Dear List Moderators:

I find the issues of trans-oceanic contact and cultural diffusion as
interesting as anyone else (really I do), but if memory serves these topics
have been discussed ad nauseum more than once on Aztlan. 

If there is any actual new evidence, I'd love to know about it, but
otherwise, I hope we can keep this thread brief. The previous discussions
are available in the archives.

Thanks!

Cliff

Clifford T. Brown
Assistant Professor
Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL 33431
(561) 297-3232
ctbrown at fau.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of Robert Evans
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 11:15 AM
To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: RE: [Aztlan] Meso trade in Hawaii

Strong evidence of pre-Columbian sweet potatoes and bottle gourds in
Polynesia raises the possibility of trade. The nay-sayers harp on the vast
distances to travel, "impossible" they say. On the other hand theory of the
seeds floating by themselves and surviving the long immersion in salt water
is a bit of a stretch, particularly for the sweet-potato. 

So it is likely that these items came from the Americas in some sort of man
made sailing vessel, perhaps a covered canoe, but there is no DNA evidence
to show intermingling of races. The logistics and economics of such a trip
render it extremely unlikely. Just to carry enough water for the man/men to
survive makes it virtually impossible.   

But why does a manned canoe have to make it across? And back? I'm sure that
over the ages there were many thousands of traders lost at sea. All it would
take is one nicely packed trader's canoe to get thrown off course. The
unfortunate trader would die of exposure or drowning. The canoe could float
for many months until it eventually either was found by Polynesians just
offshore, or washed up on the beach. The top part of the cargo would
probably be baked dry, and the bottom water logged, but the stuff in the
middle would have kept fine.

Robert Evans
revans at atoda.com
www.atoda.com
<>-----Original Message-----
<>From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-
<>bounces at lists.famsi.org] On Behalf Of Lawrence Lo
<>Sent: November 5, 2006 8:28 PM
<>To: stu16274 at atu.edu
<>Cc: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
<>Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Meso trade in Hawaii
<>
<>Hello,
<>
<>Last year there were a bunch of articles about a theory that the Hawaiian
<>might have reached Southern California and taught the Chumash and
<>Gabrielinos who lived on the Santa Barbara islands how to build
<>Polynesian-style sewn-plank canoes which were different from those of
<>other groups in Southern California.
<>
<>Some of the articles:
<>
<>http://www.archaeology.org/0503/abstracts/canoes.html
<>http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2005/08/03_chumash.shtml
<>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
<>bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/20/MNG9GDBBLG1.DTL&type=science
<>
<>I found the evidence very interesting but it's hard to prove a theory with
<>only two pieces of evidence.
<>
<>Cheers
<>
<>LarrY
<>
<>
<>> Greetings all.
<>>
<>> Some time in the past couple of years I read an on-line 'news'
<>> article about archaeological evidence of trade between mesoamerica (I
<>> think it was Aztec) and Hawaii.
<>>
<>> Try as I might I can not find any reference now.
<>> Did I dream it up or was it some sort of hoax that has now
<>> vanished in the mist?
<>>
<>> Any help in this area would be appreciated.
<>>
<>> Thanks
<>>
<>> Tom Snizek
<>> Arkansas Tech University
<>>
<>>
<>>
<>>
<>> ________________________________________________________________
<>> Sent via the TECH WebMail system at atu.edu
<>>
<>>
<>>
<>>
<>> _______________________________________________
<>> Aztlan mailing list
<>> Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
<>> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/aztlan
<>>
<>
<>
<>------------------------------
<>Lawrence Lo
<>
<>www.ancientscripts.com
<>Ancient Scripts of the World
<>
<>
<>_______________________________________________
<>Aztlan mailing list
<>Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
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