Alice Beck Kehoe, Professor Emerita, Anthropology, Marquette University
“Traveling Prehistoric Seas”

The myth that no one had crossed an ocean to America before Columbus has stifled discussion of evidence of earlier contacts. Even five centuries of Norse use of eastern Canada have not been readily accepted by archaeologists. Excavation by noted American archaeologist Patrick Kirch of sweet potatoes from America in a Central Polynesian site dated about 1200 CE proves Polynesians reached northern South America and returned. Animal figurines on axles with wheels, and “lion-dog” temple guardian figures, in Cihuatan, El Salvador, from about the same time are unique evidence of Asian contacts, likely connected to the medieval spice trade. The feasibility of voyaging will be traced, and evidence illustrated.