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03-22-2024, 10:09 PM
I actually thought that the Easter Island habitants were totally isolated from other peoples, and had been until explorers "found" them.
I had to update myself on that note because apparently early on they had contact with people from South America, and scientists have proved it in multiple ways, from items excavated in early settlements, to analysis of the starches contained in their foods.
From Archeology: Early Settlers of Rapa Nui Had Contact With South America
From LiveScience: Obsidian blades with food traces reveal 1st settlers of Rapa Nui had regular contact with South Americans 1,000 years ago
And citing a PLOS ONE journal: Identification of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and South American crops introduced during early settlement of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), as revealed through starch analysis
One thousand years ago, the first settlers of Rapa Nui — also known as Easter Island — feasted on a fusion cuisine of plants native to Polynesia but also ones indigenous to South America, around 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) away, a new study finds.
Researchers discovered the food remnants by identifying starch grains clinging to obsidian blades at the archaeological site of Anakena, the earliest known settlement on Rapa Nui, which was occupied from about A.D. 1000 to 1300, according to the study, published Wednesday (March 20) in the journal PLOS One. The finding suggests that the early Polynesians had regular contact with the people of South America as far back as a millennium ago.
I had to update myself on that note because apparently early on they had contact with people from South America, and scientists have proved it in multiple ways, from items excavated in early settlements, to analysis of the starches contained in their foods.
From Archeology: Early Settlers of Rapa Nui Had Contact With South America
From LiveScience: Obsidian blades with food traces reveal 1st settlers of Rapa Nui had regular contact with South Americans 1,000 years ago
And citing a PLOS ONE journal: Identification of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and South American crops introduced during early settlement of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), as revealed through starch analysis
One thousand years ago, the first settlers of Rapa Nui — also known as Easter Island — feasted on a fusion cuisine of plants native to Polynesia but also ones indigenous to South America, around 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) away, a new study finds.
Researchers discovered the food remnants by identifying starch grains clinging to obsidian blades at the archaeological site of Anakena, the earliest known settlement on Rapa Nui, which was occupied from about A.D. 1000 to 1300, according to the study, published Wednesday (March 20) in the journal PLOS One. The finding suggests that the early Polynesians had regular contact with the people of South America as far back as a millennium ago.
