Were Polynesians the Best Navigators Ever?
Some new, sophisticated, DNA research indicates that the Polynesians who lived more than 800 years ago may be have some of the best voyagers and navigators of all time. If not the absolute best, they certainly were right up there. Indeed, the new study suggests that the Polynesians from the Marquesas, who invented the double-hulled canoe, reached what is now Colombia in South America before 1150, some 870 years ago. It also suggests that they paddled about 2,000 nm from Colombia to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) about the same time, and then another 2,000 nm back home. The researchers, according…