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According to wikipedia this is the less likely and imo less interesting explanation. They did find coconuts that are genetically distinct from the ones the Spanish brought over from the Philippines, but those ones are more distantly related to the ones in polynesia so they probably didn’t float over. Instead they are more likely evidence of pre-columbian contact of Polynesians with south and central America, along with sweet potatoes originating in South America but being present in polynesia and SEA prior to columbus.

So this would boot Columbus off the podium in people who discovered America.

Bering strait people
Polynesian people
Vikings, Leif Erickson
Columbus

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PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I personally like the “literally everyone else got their first” theory as a joke that suggests that Mansa Musa’s predecessor and the Ming Dynasty treasure fleets also happened to get there, granted with Mansa Musa’s predecessor making a one way trip and with the treasure fleets not actually having realized they’d hit a distinct landmass.

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- venoft@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Reading about rue treasure fleet is wild:
  
  The Chinese expeditionary fleet was heavily militarized and carried great amounts of treasures, which served to project Chinese power and wealth to the known world. They brought back many foreign ambassadors whose kings and rulers were willing to declare themselves tributaries of China. During the course of the voyages, they destroyed Chen Zuyi’s pirate fleet at Palembang, captured the Sinhalese Kotte kingdom of King Alakeshvara, and defeated the forces of the Semudera pretender Sekandar in northern Sumatra.
  
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No_Change_Just_Money@feddit.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Your point is valid, but less funny and will therefore be ignored

(Thank you for fact checking)

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emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If I remember correctly, the Polynesians went there from South America, not the other way around.

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- Taniwha420@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  IRC the genetics don’t support that. It looks more like Polynesians originate from the area around Taiwan, sharing DNA with the indigenous Taiwanese. Again IRC there are some South American genes present in the Easter Island or Tahiti area, which seem to have been introduced pre-European contact. It’s tricky to tell though because there has been so much sharing of genetics since then. It looks like maybe some Polynesians went to South America one or a few times and returned.
  
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marcos@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Is there a consensus already over the relative position of #1 and #2 of your list?

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