Early Americans helped colonise Easter Island

New Scientist ^ | 06-06-2011 | Michael Marshall

[Renfield]

South Americans helped colonise Easter Island centuries before Europeans reached it. Clear genetic evidence has, for the first time, given support to elements of this controversial theory showing that while the remote island was mostly colonised from the west, there was also some influx of people from the Americas.

~~~snip~~~

Now Erik Thorsby of the University of Oslo in Norway has found clear evidence to support elements of Heyerdahl's hypothesis. In 1971 and 2008 he collected blood samples from Easter Islanders whose ancestors had not interbred with Europeans and other visitors to the island.

Thorsby looked at the HLA genes, which vary greatly from person to person. Most of the islanders' HLA genes were Polynesian, but a few of them also carried HLA genes only previously found in Native American populations....

[Renfield]

Ping

[Sacajaweau]

All that proves is that SOME native americans came from south america....like duh...

[ckilmer]

the trouble with this is that many of the easter island inhabitant were shipped to south america where they stayed for some time before returning. as well, many south americans visited easter island

the chances of the researcher getting a sample of pure easter island stock are not that great.

[KarlInOhio]

Now the next question: Are there any Polynesian HLA genes in the "native" South American population, or was the travel only by the native Americans. Some people wonder if the Polynesians made it to the Americas before Columbus did.

[OldNewYork]

Good point. Combined with the botanical and other evidence though, which is from before the period of South American contact I think you’re referring to (post-Columbus?), this can’t be discarded.

From the article at the link: “Because most of Thorsby’s volunteers came from one extended family, he was able to work out when the HLA genes entered their lineage. The most probable first known carrier was a woman named Maria Aquala, born in 1846. Crucially, that was before the slave traders arrived in the 1860s and began interbreeding with the islanders.”

As an aside, I think ‘intermarrying’ would have been a better choice of word in the article.

[Sherman Logan]

Given that slavers aren’t known for marrying their prey, I suggest interbreeding is exactly the right term.

Vulgar, but then the practice of slavery is extremely vulgar in reality.

[OldNewYork]

Given that slavers aren’t known for marrying their prey, I suggest interbreeding is exactly the right term. Vulgar, but then the practice of slavery is extremely vulgar in reality. I'd agree about the vulgarity, but not all of those Easter Islanders descended from both South Americans and Polynesians are descended from forcible slave unions, rape, and the like. Some did intermarry, so might as well use a term like that broad enough to cover it all without insulting those who freely associated, or implying that people or peoples are animals to be bred. I don't think you'll find anyone in Easter Island, or the rest of Chile, with a knowledge of English who'd prefer 'interbred' to 'intermarried'. I'd thought it was just the Norwegian researcher not being familiar with the connotations of the English, but it seems to be from the author of the article. A minor, tangential point anyway.

[SunkenCiv]

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[bigheadfred]

Bravo and three cheers for the late Thor Heyerdahl.

Anyone who has the patience to build a boat out of popsicle sticks, let alone try to cross an ocean on it gets 3 cheers from me.

[JoeProBono]

[blam]

2004: Top (Archaeological) Finds On Bolivian Highlands

Some say this statue found in Bolivia remind them of the Easter Island statues.

[Melian]

I was crazy about my Scholastic books edition of “Kon Tiki” when I was a 12 year old. Hooray for papyrus-weaving, ocean-navigating, Nordic adventurers!

[Beowulf9]