discovery of America Archives

Polynesian Canoes Reached the Americas

by David Tollen | Oct 31, 2014 | The Neolithic & Latter-Day Prehistory, Australia, the Islands, & Further Africa before the Modern Age, Pre-Columbian Americas

Research on sweet potatoes suggests the Polynesians reached the New World centuries before Columbus. Sweet potatoes come from South America, but they’re common on Polynesian islands like Hawaii, Samoa, and Tahiti. According to recent studies of the crop’s...