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A comment on Pacific islanders likely found Antarctica first: study. Parent comment

Re:Pacific islanders likely found Antarctica first: study by throwaway2048 on Wednesday June 16, 2021 @04:05AM (#27526082)
The fact that the leading theory of anthropologists for a long time was vegetation rafts is laughable in the face of the distances Polynesian people regularly traveled, it speaks to the parochial nature of much of the field.
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Re:Pacific islanders likely found Antarctica first: study by scq on Wednesday June 16, 2021 @04:20AM (#27526158)
Sweet potatoes found in Polynesia diverged from their ancestors in the Americas 100,000 years ago, long before the islands were colonized by humans.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04488-4

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Re:Pacific islanders likely found Antarctica first: study by nkoren on Wednesday June 16, 2021 @04:24AM (#27526174)
Also, the fact that many Polynesian languages used nearly the same word for "sweet potato" as some South American languages (kuumala -- Polynesian vs. kumara/cumal -- Quechua) is kind of a clue, yes?

The fact that the "vegetation raft" theory persisted for more than a few seconds in the face of this knowledge always astonished me.

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Re:Pacific islanders likely found Antarctica first: study by eythian on Wednesday June 16, 2021 @07:13AM (#27527170)
Not just nearly the same. It's literally kūmara in Māori.
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