Polynesians Make Contact with South America

Genomic analysis of DNA from over 800 individuals across 17 Polynesian islands identified a Native American genetic signature linked to indigenous peoples of Colombia. This signature first appeared in the South Marquesas Islands around 1150–1200 CE, approximately 300 years before Columbus reached the Americas. Evidence suggests deliberate Polynesian voyaging to the South American coast and return. The sweet potato, domesticated in Peru, was present in the Cook Islands by around 1000 CE, with shared terminology between Polynesian kumara and Quechua cumal. This placed Polynesian navigators among the first people from any civilization to reach the Americas from outside.