Didn t Heyerdahl s Kon-Tiki raft journey to Easter Island prove South Americans could have reached Polynesia?
A. First, Heyerdahl s Kon-Tiki raft journey never went to Easter Island, nor was this his destination. (He eventually crashed on a coral reef in the Tuamotu Islands.) Second, while Heyerdahl s raft journey suggests people from South America could have reached Polynesia, it s important to recognize that the Kon-Tiki had to be towed out to sea by a tugboat in order to avoid the strong Humboldt current that would normally carry any drifting coastal vessel north towards Central America. So the likelihood of an un-assisted drift journey from South America is slim. (Some researchers have suggested that eastern Polynesians may have visited South America and returned, but there s no significance evidence to support this theory.) Scientists and scholars have evaluated a wide range of disciplines, from linguistics to genetics, from ethnography to technology, and no solid evidence of direct contact between South America and Easter Island has ever been discovered.
