disinformation | columbus wasn't first across the ocean

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columbus wasn't first across the ocean
by Preston Peet (ptpeet@cs.com) - May 05, 2001

Every year on October 12, in the US, the Caribbean, and Latin America, there are memorial celebrations that commemorate the "discovery" of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. These celebrations proclaim Columbus as a great navigator, and the first Outsider to set foot on the Americas' shores, since the migrations across the Bering land bridge in prehistoric times.

But what if this wasn't true? What if he were only following in the footsteps of others What if the exploring went both in and out of the "New World"?

Long before Columbus usherd in a new era, there were civilizations and cultures that had accomplished prodigious feats of exploration, and built vast maritime trading empires. The accepted view that these civilizations were too frightened of sailing the vast oceans is Eurocentric, and results from the religious fears that gripped the Western consciousness during the Dark Ages, rather than upon scientific experimentation.

The transoceanic contact debate, which has consequently arisen, has two main groups: the Diffusionist and the Insolationist. The Diffusionist group postulates--based upon plants, linguistics, and similarities in art and architecture--that various cultures had contact with one another across vast distances and even oceans, and that they naturally had some influence on one another. The Isolationist group contends, instead, that the "Old" and "New" Worlds did not have contact. They believe that the similarities between separate cultures (such as pyramids) are purely coincidental, the result of the spontaneous invention that occurs as humanity "progresses" to greater cultural complexity.

The Isolationist view, however, has a major problem: anomalous items that point towards intercontinental contact are being discovered, such as nicotine and cocaine (strictly New World plant by-products), found within Egyptian mummies that were interned for centuries before Spain funded the voyage of Columbus.

Peru has traditionally grown coca, a lucrative trade item, but the modern trade in Peruvian archeological items is also rapidly growing. Architecture that resembles Peruvian styles can be found on Easter Island, and Peruvian pottery has been discovered in the Galapagos Islands, suggesting that some ancient American civilizations had voyaged across the Pacific.

By the time that Europeans reached them, Madagascar, Easter Island, the Polynesian Islands, and other island nations were already long inhabited. If humans migrated, across vast distances, to Australia, why not elsewhere?

Thor Heyerdhal, the Norwegian ethnologist who is best-known for his historic journey on the Kon-Tiki raft 1947), and whose experiments are unfairly regulated to the realm of pseudoscience, undertook them only to prove his theory of Peruvian migrations and explorations possible, not that he felt they had populated the Pacific.

Heyerdahl's experiments have been undermined by authors who suggest that various ancient cultures had founded Continental US settlements. These authors point to rusted coins, armor, vague historical references, and even spurious markings on rocks, as proof of their ideas. There are many fascinating and well-argued theories about ancient maritime cultures . . . and a thousand more crackpot ideas about global commerce in the prehistoric era.

Could there really have been ancient cultures, whose explorers plied the waves unafraid, bound only by their imagination? Yes, we are now discovering evidence that these cultures may have existed, and, as a result, our view of ancient history will be changed forever.

Exploration and Discovery Before 1492
This article is by Wilcomb Washburn, excerpted from The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia (New York: Da Capo Press, 1992), edited by Silvio Benini). Washburn firstly outlines several theories, and then critically examines the evidence of pre-Columbus contact.

Carthaginians in the New World: A Radical Theory
Roy Decker outlines, in this article (1999), the reasons why he thinks that the Carthaginians may have reached the "New World."

American Indians in the Pacific: A 50-Year Retrospective of the Kon-Tiki Expedition
This article is a well written, and well argued defense of Thor Heyerdahl, the intrepid anthropologist of Kon-Tiki fame. Heyerdahl has promoted the idea that the ancient Peruvian people were a maritime culture that explored the Pacific Ocean, long before it was "discovered" by Europeans. Heyerdahl's theories were initially dismissed by scholars, like many "paradigm shifts", but they have suggested that our ancestors were more adept and intelligent than we give them credit for.

The Piri Re'is Map
For anyone interested in old maps, this monograph is fascinating: the Piri Re'is map (1513) shows North and South America, and, possibly even Antarctica. The map has been used to support Erich von Daniken's pseudoscientific theories that allege alien intervention in human culture, which is silly, but the map is still incredible. The monograph mentions that the "shores of Antilia" were discovered in 896, and thatthe infidel Colombo had found a book reference to this island, which then set him on his path to "discovery."

First Migrations to America: At Least Two or Three Waves
This Associated Press article (February 17, 1998), by Paul Recer, is about how recent anthropological discoveries are overturning the accepted explanations of how people migrated to the Americas, and also when the first human arrivals occurred. They may have used boats instead of the Bering land bridge.

America Discovered
Did Muslims land on American shores 500 years before Columbus? Read this interesting essay by Dr. Youssef Mroueh, and find out what he thinks about this possibility.

The Vinland Map: The World Before Columbus
This PBS Online Newshour episode discusses whether the Vinland map--first published in 1965, and alleged to be a Viking map--really is a pre-Columbus map showing portions of the North American shoreline. Features a discussion with Dr. Wilcomb Washburn of the Smithsonian Institute.

Ancient Maps
This site discusses the Piri Re-is map, and other ancient maps, that possibly show the coastlines and interiors of places that scientists claim would have been impossible for our ancestors to explore. Find the (Ancestral) Others.

Ancient Sailors and America
Here are a few articles and theories by Yuri Kuchinsky, about ancient maritime cultures and navigation that concerned America. A possible Australian connection is also discussed.

The Chinese Arrived in America Earlier
This China Daily article (August 27, 1999) reveals the discovery of Central American artifacts that may prompt scholars to rewrite the history books. The artifacts had intriguing markings and pictograms inscribed into pottery, jade and stone.

The Riddle of the Ancient Mariners
This California Wild article (Summer 1990), by Tabitha M. Pawledge, examines the possibility that migrating humans had traversed the Americas' coastline, from Alaska to the tip of Chile, rather than walking the distance.

Easter Island: Rapa Nui
This is an interesting site, debating about who first reached the world's most remotely populated island, and how they may have gotten there. The enigmatic Moai stone statues are also discussed.

George Erikson: Atlantis in America
This is is review of Atlantis in America: Navigators of the Ancient World (Kempton IL: Adventures Unlimited Press, 1999), by Ivar Zapp and George Erikson. Their book is a fascinating look at the various theories of trans-oceanic contact between various ancient civilizations. I highly recommend this book, for its entertainment quota if for nothing more, though personally I find their postulations intriguing and feasible.

Easter Island Links
This is a huge collection of links to sites about Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

Ancient Thamudic (Thalmudic) American Alphabet Discovered
Did a settlement of Hebrew explorers, thousands of years ago, settle in the North American West? This seems a bit fanciful, however, there are some interesting photos here. The Hebrew connection remains an intriguing idea.

Ancient Hellenes (Greeks) in America
This site is devoted to proving that the Ancient Greeks had a presence in the Americas. Lots of cool photos of old ooparts, (out of place/time archeological artifacts).

L'ans aux Medows