New stories
Hi friends! I’m still working away on my Very Big Project, which I hope to have more to say about soon. (Both what it is and how I’m getting so much of it done during quarantine—a truly shocking development.) In the meantime, I wanted to share my two latest stories. Both are about genetics and surprising migrations in misunderstood and under appreciated parts of the world.
1. Ancient DNA reveals diverse origins of Caribbean’s earliest inhabitants. I always heard that the ancestors of the Caribbean’s Indigenous communities came from South America. Ancient DNA studies confirm part of that story and add more information about even earlier, more mysterious journeys to the islands, perhaps from North or Central America.
2. Polynesians steering by the stars met Native Americans long before Europeans arrived. Polynesian voyagers are the world’s most impressive explorers, hands down no question. The question of whether they reached South America before Europeans is considered a big mystery and debate in archaeology, but honestly it’s always seemed pretty likely to me (and, I think, to a lot of Polynesians living today, many of whom still practice the voyaging traditions developed by their ancestors). A new genetic study of people from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and several other Polynesian islands show that their ancestors likely met Native Americans, perhaps from the northern coast of South America. It adds a lot of weight to the pre-colonial contact idea but also shakes up most people’s vision of where and when that meeting might have happened. I had been hearing little whispers about this study for four years, so I was thrilled to finally get to write about it.
In conclusion, oceans are not barriers and ancient people (especially the non-Europeans) were more interesting and capable than you’ve been led to believe. Don’t let any stodgy old white guy tell you otherwise.