Pre-Columbian Contact Claims Encyclopedia

The list of wild claims is very long. You can check "hyperdiffusionism".

Edited by pinguin - 12-Apr-2008 at 14:59

Hooops, guys Hassan Al-Jruss al-Finiki is a total invention. I made it up to mock a guy asking for evidence of Muslim contact with the Americas.

500s Saint Bredan and Saint Malo are widely thought to have been maritime evangelists sailing from Brittany to the Northern Islands of the Atlantic (Ireland, Faroe etc). Some think they've reached the Americas

1291 the Vivaldi brothers from Genoa go through the Straights of Gibraltar never to be seen again in search of a route westward to the Indies.

There are also a lot of goofy theories of discovery by the Ancient people based on supposed wrecks and coins found there but none of them managed to gain consensus.

1480s there is also a sounder complot-like theory of discovery by the Portuguese. These are based on 3 evidence:
1. The Portuguese fishermen along with many other from the whole European Atlantic shores were looking for cod up North. It is likely that they reached Newfoundland. It has sometimes been said that Colombus went twice with them.
2. The Portuguese had been doing the "volta" (i.e. the West-than-East turn in the Atlantic to avoid contrary winds out of Africa) for several year. The discovery of Brazil by chance by Cabral in 1500 may have happened earlier (which may explain why the treaty of Tordesillas 6 years before Cabral gave Brazil to Portugal). It is also widely assumed that Colombus may have gone to America before 1492.
3. On his way back from his forst trip Columbus  did not go straight to Sevilla but first stopped in Baionna in Northern Spain, then stopped in Lisbon and finally went to Sevilla. So the Portuguese king knew before the one of Castille of the discoveries.

There is a good post here.

Prince Madoc of Wales in the 12th century

Joao Vaz Corte Real in 1478 (that one is actually reasonalbly plausbile)

Columbus himself (he claimed he had visited Thule went 100 leagues past it)

Berbers, supposedly invented the Mayan script. Also the Piramids of G��mar are noteworthy in this context.

Originally posted by Paul ...  10th century Leif Erickson   1497 Amerigo Vespucci

I think generally precolumbian contact claims can be divided in two groups:
- Claims of extensive contact, and heavy old world influence on the new world, mostly at least 1000 years before Columbus. Think about Romans, Celts, Arabs, Chinese here. These theories make outreageously speculative and far reaching claims, which can be refuted easily.
- Claims of accidental contect. A few castaways landing in America, or explorers bumping on America for a single time without any contact following this discovery. Most of these claims are in the last centuries before 1492. Think of Corte Real, Basques, Madoc, Malians and some of the Chinese here. Some of these claims may have some credibility, but even if they were true they are not really that important. What makes Columbus discovery is that it started an extensive Old World-New World contact, that changed the history of the world forever. Even if the Basques or Portuguese did land in America in 1450 or so it had little influence on the rest of history.

So far,

 

12,500-60,000 ya + Pre-Clovis Peoples Evidence of pre-Paleo-Indian inhabitants of the Americas is widespread and found the length of the Americas. 40,000 year old human footprints have been radiocarbon dated in Mexico,  at Meadowcroft one of numerous sites in the US yielded a horde of finds from strata that formed 16,000-21,000ya. Researcher also extracted pre-Clovis DNA from thesis found in Paisley Caves in Oregon. Who these people are or whether they were single people remains a mystery. The most likely route to America would be through Asia and across the Baring Strait, which would mean they were most likely some of the earliest humans who migrated from Africa to Asia.

 

15,000ya The Solutreans were a culture that existed in Spain and France 21,000-17,000 ya, when it was famous for having the most advanced stone technology in the world. It was replaced by the Magdalenian culture who had a much more primitive technology, what happened to the Solutreans and how their technological advances were lost its a mystery.  3,500 years later in North America an almost identical technology to the Solutreans developed. This has lead the Smithsonian Institute to hypothesize that the Solutreans crossed the Atlantic island hopping along the pack ice in similar way to the Inuit.

 

before 2000bc The Egyptian Pyramid Builders According to Thor Heyerdahl

 

600bc Lamanites & Nephites The Book of Mormon describes how the lost tribe of Israel, led by Lamas and Nephi, travelled via the Middle East to the Americas. The two groups lived at odds with one another but were unified by converting to Christianity. However the division resurface and a larger group, The Lamanites stayed Christian, and a smaller groups, The Nephites began denying Christ. The Lamanites then massacred the Nephites. God punished the Lamanites for their wickedness by turning their skin black. Mormons believe that the Lamanites are the ancestors of the Paleo-Indian.

 

458ad Hui Shen a lead a groups of Chinese Monks to a land called Fusang, derived from this writing,

Fusang is about twenty thousand Chinese miles in an easterly direction from Tahan, and east of the Middle Kingdoms [China]. Many fusang trees grow there, whose leaves resemble the Dryanda cordifolia; the sprouts, on the contrary, resemble those of the bamboo tree, and are eaten by the inhabitants of the land. The fruit is like a pear in form but is red. From the bark they prepare a sort of linen which they use for clothing... The houses are built of wooden beams; fortified and walled places there unknown... They have written characters in this land and prepare paper from the bark of the Fusang

 

350bc The Carthaginians Diodorus, reported in 100 BC that the Carthaginians knew of a large island far out in the Atlantic which had many mountains and large navigable rivers. Mark McMenamin claims to have discovered a map of America on cathaginian coins

 

 

40 AD Jesus Christ (according to Mormon religion)

 

500s Saint Bredan and Saint Malo are widely thought to have been maritime evangelists sailing from Brittany to the Northern Islands of the Atlantic (Ireland, Faroe etc). Some think they've reached the Americas
  

10th century Leif Erickson arrived in New Founland. The colony may have lasted nearly 400 years.

1291 the Vivaldi brothers from Genoa go through the Straights of Gibraltar never to be seen again in search of a route westward to the Indies.

1421ad claim made Zheng He and a Chinese fleet landed somewhere around Mexico.

1480s there is also a sounder complot-like theory of discovery by the Portuguese. These are based on 3 evidence:
1. The Portuguese fishermen along with many other from the whole European Atlantic shores were looking for cod up North. It is likely that they reached Newfoundland. It has sometimes been said that Colombus went twice with them.
2. The Portuguese had been doing the "volta" (i.e. the West-than-East turn in the Atlantic to avoid contrary winds out of Africa) for several year. The discovery of Brazil by chance by Cabral in 1500 may have happened earlier (which may explain why the treaty of Tordesillas 6 years before Cabral gave Brazil to Portugal). It is also widely assumed that Colombus may have gone to America before 1492.
3. On his way back from his forst trip Columbus  did not go straight to Sevilla but first stopped in Baionna in Northern Spain, then stopped in Lisbon and finally went to Sevilla. So the Portuguese king knew before the one of Castille of the discoveries.

 

1497 Amerigo Vespucci

 

Edited by Paul - 13-Apr-2008 at 22:15

3000bc to 1500bc contacts between the Ecuadorian and Japanese primitive societies.
3000bc to 500ad Colonisation of S. America from Oceania, including contacts between Tierra del Fuego and Australia aborigenes.
2000bc Contact with late pyramid builders and return (cocaine in mummies). The 1950 expedition to the land of Punt reaching the Great North American Lakes.
1200bc to 400bc Pinguin's favorite the Olmec/African's contact. But they are also sometimes seen as Chinese, Israelites or Germanic.
1100 (second quarter) Ramses III sailors discover the Americas.
1000 The Phoenicians reach the Azores, the Bahamas and Texas.
950(ish) King Solomon sent a fleet to discover resources and found gold in  Ophir and Tarshish (=Americas).
500 Carthgenians followed by Greeks reach the Canary Islands and later discover the "true continent". They explored the Ohio river around 200bc.
64-70ad St Thomas the Apostle spread Christianity in America.
70(ish) Jewish rebels fleeing the Romans landed on Bat Creek
200-300ad Roman presence in the Canary Islands has fueled the debate about a possible contact with the Americas (found artifacts all over the continent).
700 Contact with Polynesians (unclear who discovered who, supported by vegetable and animal exchange).
800s? Cludee monks fleeing the Vikings would have reached Iceland, Greenland, Labrador and Nova Scotia.
889 Khashkash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad from Cordoba sailed from Delba and discovered what was know by later Muslim geographers as Ard Majhoola (the unknown territory, located on the other side of Africa).
999 Ibn Farrukh, from Grenada, explorered first the Canary Island and then went on Westward until he found two unknown islands and went back to Al-Andalus.
1000s ??? Arrival of the Inuits and other Eskimo people from Siberia.
1000s or 1100s From Lisbon, explorers known as the Mugharrarin sailed West and found "redskins". In general it is said that several of Columbus' crewmen were Muslims and that Columbus was inspired by stories from Muslim merchants.
1012 Norse reach Okhlaoma
late 1000s the Norse reach Maine
1170 Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd of Wales said to have discovered Alabama and Missouri with 10 ships.
1200s Contact between Japanese and Zuni people (New Mexico!!!).
1300s An expedition of 18 Norse left a runestone in Minnesota.
1311 A 400 ships strong Malian fleet explored S. America. Only one came back. The next year, the sultan Abubakari II, sailed with 2000 ships to the West. Traces of this population would have been discovered by Columbus.
1354 Expedition of the Swede Paul Knutson to Greenland.
1398 The earl Henry Sinclair, a Scot, discovered New England with a fleet commanded by Antonio Zeno. According to some, the knights templar were at the origin of this voyage inspired by the archives of Solomon's temple. Some assume they brought the Holy Graal to the Americas.
1452 Diego de Tieve, squire of Henrique o Navegador, and Pedro de Velasco discover most of Azores and potentially Newfoundland.
1470-80 A Spanish caravel on its way to England had been swept off its course and arrived in an unknown land where they managed to get supply and sailed back to Portugal. Amongst the few survivors was the pilot, a good friend of Columbus who was his host after his return.
1473 A German-Danish-Portuguese expedition with John Scolvus (=Columbus?), Dietrich Pinning, Hans Pothorst and Jo�o Vaz Corte-Real, spent the summer on the North American mainland. An other expedition being conducted in 1476-8.
1477 On a fleet of Basque fishermen, Colombus visits an island he calls Tule.
1481 A fleet of Bristol ships (usually trading with Iceland) discovered the Island of Brazil (Newfoundland?). Columbus is said to have visited Bristol a few years before. The 'discovery' was kept secret.
1488 Jean Cousin from Dieppe, France, on his way to Western Africa was blown away by the tempest and discovered Brazil.

A handful of other theories claim that the Americans were the first to discover the rest of the world.


Edited by Maharbbal - 14-Apr-2008 at 01:45

1325 first mention of the Island of Brazil on a map. The library of Charles V (king of France from 1364 to 1381) made of red wood from S. America.
1424 first mention of the Island of Antilla on a map.

Another interesting thread could be devoted to the inspirations of Columbus. According to many hypothesis, he seems to have heard about the Americas through so many channels, it is almost weird that he was surprised. For instance, during his trip to Bristol he is said to have seen dead Inuits and their canoes brought from Canada. The captains of the Pinta and the Ni�a Martin and Vincente Pinzon are said to have been of the ship of Jean Cousin in 1488.

The John Cabot travel of 1498 (I may be wrong with the year though)�is�another�one.�

Originally posted by rider The John Cabot travel of 1498 (I may be wrong with the year though) is another one.

That's not precolumbian