Posted on 05/26/2013 9:24:53 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Jomon culture was mentioned in other news this month. The largest ever genetic study of native South Americans identified a sub-population in Ecuador with an unexpected link to eastern Asia. The study, published in PLOS Genetics, concluded that Asian genes had been introduced into South America sometime after 6,000 years ago -- the same time the Jomon culture was flourishing in Japan.
Back in the 1960s, the renowned Smithsonian archaeologist Betty Meggers argued that similarities between the pottery of the contemporaneous Valdivia culture in Ecuador and Japan’s Jomon culture indicated that Japanese fishermen had “discovered” America about 5,000 years ago...
Writing in 1980, Meggers expressed frustration that transoceanic contact as an explanation for cultural similarities was dismissed by dogmatic colleagues as “cult archaeology,” and she complained that “no amount of evidence” could convince them...
The discovery of an apparent genetic link between eastern Asians and Ecuadoran natives provides intriguing independent support for Meggers’ hypothesis. Moreover, the fact that Jomon pottery was used predominantly for cooking seafood suggests that Jomon fishermen would have had little trouble feeding themselves on a long ocean voyage...
(Excerpt) Read more at dispatch.com ...
I tried to watch it but reached the same conclusion as you: the "documentation" is selective, based on the theories of the series' creator. It goes for sensationalism, not science IMO. Seems like his "solution" to everything is the Knights Templar and their travels in this hemisphere. Maybe so but I need better proof.
I think many of the subjects it covers are very interesting but deserve careful peer-reviewed examination.
Re: “I think it is unlikely they crossed the ocean in a linear fashion.”
I agree.
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Yeah I agree too. coastal sailing has been around for 10’s of 10000’s of years. But cross ocean sailing is a relatively new skill. The Polynesians mastered it about 1500 years ago. and the Europeans mastered the same skill with different tools about 500 years ago.
Actually, set against the backdrop of deep time —1000 years is a short difference in time for two different cultures to master the same skill using different methods —and it suggests something interesting about the human condition/mind.
Good point.
Excellent explanation. Your postings on such subjects are always so helpful. Thanks.
Wow! I was getting an image of a bunch of people being washed out to sea by a tsumami and then drifting for so long before being deposited in an alien land. Life was really tough in those days.
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