Pre-Columbian sweet potato in Polynesia
Batata en la Polinesia precolombina
- Date
- c. 1000 · confidence medium
- Place
- Tangatatau rock shelter, Mangaia, Cook Islands
- Credited to
- Polynesian voyagers
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Charred remains of sweet potato from around 1000 CE show that this American tuber reached Polynesia before the Europeans. It is the clearest evidence of contact between Polynesia and South America, backed by the genetics of the plant and of present-day populations.
Some geneticists propose a natural dispersal of seeds; most accept human transport. The name kumara has parallels with the Quechua cumal.
What it led to
- kūmara cultivation in New Zealand and Hawaii
- the debate over Polynesian voyages to America
- DNA contact studies (2020)