Native Americans May Have Reached Polynesia Long Before Europeans
Fascinating research from July suggested that indigenous South Americans voyaged to South Pacific islands some 300 years prior to the arrival of European colonists. Genetic evidence points to an epic journey made around 1200 CE, when a group from South America traveled for thousands of miles to Polynesia, where they mingled with the local population, leaving their genetic legacy behind. This mixed population then went on to populate other islands around 1380 CE, including Rapa Nui, commonly known as Easter Island.
