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Most historians accept that before Columbus existed, Vikings established a temporary colony in North America. That's pretty much the most damning evidence of a pre-Columbian non-Amerindian discovery of the Americans, but we do have weaker evidence implying that the Vikings weren't the only Pre-Columbians to encounter one of the continents.
Note: These examples are dug from Richard Poe's exemplary book Black Spark, White Fire.
1) Spanish accounts describe black populations living in the Americas before the Transatlantic slave trade. In 1513, explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa journeyed across the Americas from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He discovered Amerindians fighting blacks and keeping them as slaves. Another party of Spanish explorers found Amerindians in a place called Quarequa fighting blacks. Were these descended from black African sailors who were shipwrecked and stranded in the Americas?
2) Marine archaeologists have discovered a Roman shipwreck underneath a bay off the Brazilian coast, carrying amphorae that classicists have identified as coming from the Moroccan port of Zilis.
3) In his Timaeus, Plato describes a continent "encompassing" the Atlantic Ocean. He doesn't mean the mythical Atlantis, but rather a landmass to its west. This sounds like the Americas.
4) The ancient library director Krates of Mallos declared that it was impossible to sail to eastern Asia's coastline moving westward (even though the Greeks knew that the Earth was spherical), because one would bump into one of two continents he called Peroikoi and Antipodea, which correspond to North and South America respectively.
5) Ancient Greek legends tell of Carthaginians who founded a colony on a land far to the west of Africa. Some think this colony was situated in the Azores, Canaries, Madeira, or the Cape Verde Islands, but the legends mention that this mystery land had navigable rivers, which would only apply to Caribbean Islands or the American mainland.
Who knows who else may have discovered the Americas before Columbus! This is truly a fascinating subject!
Posts: 7315 | From: Fallbrook, CA | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Note: These examples are dug from Richard Poe's exemplary book Black Spark, White Fire.
1) Spanish accounts describe black populations living in the Americas before the Transatlantic slave trade. In 1513, explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa journeyed across the Americas from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He discovered Amerindians fighting blacks and keeping them as slaves. Another party of Spanish explorers found Amerindians in a place called Quarequa fighting blacks. Were these descended from black African sailors who were shipwrecked and stranded in the Americas?
2) Marine archaeologists have discovered a Roman shipwreck underneath a bay off the Brazilian coast, carrying amphorae that classicists have identified as coming from the Moroccan port of Zilis.
3) In his Timaeus, Plato describes a continent "encompassing" the Atlantic Ocean. He doesn't mean the mythical Atlantis, but rather a landmass to its west. This sounds like the Americas.
4) The ancient library director Krates of Mallos declared that it was impossible to sail to eastern Asia's coastline moving westward (even though the Greeks knew that the Earth was spherical), because one would bump into one of two continents he called Peroikoi and Antipodea, which correspond to North and South America respectively.
5) Ancient Greek legends tell of Carthaginians who founded a colony on a land far to the west of Africa. Some think this colony was situated in the Azores, Canaries, Madeira, or the Cape Verde Islands, but the legends mention that this mystery land had navigable rivers, which would only apply to Caribbean Islands or the American mainland.
A lot of hearsay. Do you have actual sources for each? "Spanish accounts" Which Spanish accounts? By whom and when? "Marine archaeologists" Which marine archaeologist? When did he publish his findings and where? "Timaeus" Could you point out what part? http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.html "The ancient library director Krates of Mallos" And you would have the source of this claim? "navigable rivers" Not if they found the British Isles. Anyway. Which is the source that talks of this Carthagian colony? DO not use Pohl as a source as he is secondary.
By the way. Some of the claims I find plausible. The problem is simple. No evidence of contact on the other side. Either they left such a small mark that all evidence was wiped out, or they never made it over. A rumor is just a rumer until proven true.
Posts: 88 | Registered: Apr 2007
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