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Did Polynesians Reach the New World? South American Sweet Potatoes in the Pacific Islands

 

Sweet potatoes are a New World crop, yet we find them in prehistoric contexts in the Pacific Islands. How did they get there? Weighing evidence derived from archaeology, physical anthropology, linguistics and cultural anthropology (as well as ethnobotany, ethnohistory), this presentation concludes that the most plausible explanation is that ancient Polynesian voyagers reached the South American coast, and brought them back to Polynesia.

Dr. Richard Scaglion is anthropologist who specializes in the study of the Pacific islands. He is particularly interested in human migration and mobility in Oceania, in people’s relationships with their natural environments, and in the development of social complexity. Dr. Scaglion's applied work has involved the anthropology of law and sustainable development in island nations, and he has a special relationship with the Abelam people of Papua New Guinea, with whom he has conducted long-term field research beginning in 1974.
 

Dr. Scaglion is UCIS Research Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, Research Associate at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Editor of Ethnology, an international journal of cultural and social anthropology.

When

Past occurrences (1)

  • 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016

Where

1400 Centennial Hall

UWL campus map for building location and nearby parking lots.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 1400 Centennial Hall

Contact

For questions about this event or to request disability accommodations , contact Timothy McAndrews at 608.785.6774 or tmcandrews@uwlax.edu.

Parking

Payment may be required. No permit?
Use Passport Parking.

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