China had excellent seagoing ships during all the appropriate time periods. This meant that simply following the coast north eventually brought you around to Central America. Ultimately the Philippine Galleons exploited this natural great circle route. Ships were lost and we have evidence of just that as well.
I have no sense that there were ever very many such commercial trips. On the Atlantic, it was the explosion of such shipping that made colonization and immigration work at the same time as the native population collapsed. My point though is that there was ample opportunity but scant economic momentum to produce a permanent presence for the Chinese. We forget that the Americas were a long term investment project that never truly rewarded the source countries to the degree justified by the expense.
It was the astonishing huge supply of looted gold and specie that actually jump started the whole enterprise and sustained it through the centuries of hardship. We might still be fighting on the coast otherwise.
We do understand that Olmecs and Chinese did interact and that alone drives the rest. Add in the Atlantean dominence of the Carrib and the Mississippi contemporaneously for the copper trade and perhaps we understand why Chinese interest remained minor.
There were a lot of stray expeditions possible during the past five thousand year and we need to more readily accept direct evidence such as this. It really does not mean a lot in historical impact. I came , I saw, i left.
.
Chinese Sword Found in Georgia Suggests Pre-Columbian Chinese Travel to North America?
I have no sense that there were ever very many such commercial trips. On the Atlantic, it was the explosion of such shipping that made colonization and immigration work at the same time as the native population collapsed. My point though is that there was ample opportunity but scant economic momentum to produce a permanent presence for the Chinese. We forget that the Americas were a long term investment project that never truly rewarded the source countries to the degree justified by the expense.
It was the astonishing huge supply of looted gold and specie that actually jump started the whole enterprise and sustained it through the centuries of hardship. We might still be fighting on the coast otherwise.
We do understand that Olmecs and Chinese did interact and that alone drives the rest. Add in the Atlantean dominence of the Carrib and the Mississippi contemporaneously for the copper trade and perhaps we understand why Chinese interest remained minor.
There were a lot of stray expeditions possible during the past five thousand year and we need to more readily accept direct evidence such as this. It really does not mean a lot in historical impact. I came , I saw, i left.
.
Chinese Sword Found in Georgia Suggests Pre-Columbian Chinese Travel to North America?
By Jon R. Haskell, Indigenous Peoples Research Foundation | July 6, 2015
Last Updated: July 6, 2015 6:47 pm
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1417781-chinese-sword-found-in-georgia-suggests-pre-columbian-chinese-travel-to-north-america/
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The universe is full of mysteries that challenge our current
knowledge. In "Beyond Science" Epoch Times collects stories about these
strange phenomena to stimulate the imagination and open up previously
undreamed of possibilities. Are they true? You decide.
In
July 2014, an avocational surface collector chanced across a partially
exposed Chinese votive sword behind roots in an eroded bank of a small
stream in Georgia. The 30-centimeter-long (foot-long) artifact is
possibly a one-of-a kind find in North America and is another example in
the growing list of seemingly out-of-place Chinese artifacts suggesting
Chinese travel to North America in Pre-Columbian times.
The exquisite sword has preliminarily been identified as being
fashioned in Lizardite and has surface features indicating it is very
old. It is hoped that future testing will confirm the type of stone, and
determine the source, since Lizardite deposits exist in both eastern
and western hemispheres.
Answers to the when, who, and how questions remain uncertain. An
attempt to determine when the soil at the extraction site was last
exposed to sunlight with thermoluminescence testing procedures, was
thwarted because it was determined the soil had been disturbed. There
remains a small section of an unknown stranded material still attached
to the sword which may be suitable for radiocarbon dating, and also
select areas of surface accretions that may produce helpful information.
Chinese Symbology
Less uncertain are the many symbols and the shape of the sword, both
of which are found on jade objects from the Xia (2070–1600 B.C.), Shang
(1600–1046 B.C.), and Zhou (1046–256 B.C.) Dynasties. The dragon figure
spanning a portion of the top of the blade is typical to the Shang
Dynasty, as is the feathered crown. The grotesque face mask of the Taotie (a
Chinese ogre-like motif) on the guard and handle of the sword first
appears during the Liangzhu culture (3400–2250 B.C.) but it is more
commonly found during the Shang and Zhou periods, according to Siu-Leung
Lee, Ph.D., who will soon published a paper on the subject.
Less uncertain are
the many symbols and the shape of the sword, both of which are found on
jade objects from the Xia (2070–1600 B.C.), Shang (1600–1046 B.C.), and
Zhou (1046–256 B.C.) Dynasties.
The dominant presence of Shang period diagnostics and the similarity of the Taotie to depictions of the Mesoamerican Olmec were-jaguar motif, provide clues as to when the sword was made and a general time frame for when it may have arrived in Georgia.
Chinese-Olmec Connection?
The similarities between Chinese and Olmec mythology and symbolism
have been the subject of scholarly debate for over a hundred years. It
is perhaps no coincidence that the Olmec culture appears around 1500
B.C., during the beginning of the Shang Dynasty, and the first written
history of China begins. It was the start of the Bronze Age resulting in
ornate bronze works of art, bronze chariots, and weaponry. The first
Chinese script appears at this time along with extensive irrigation
systems and other public works projects, all indicators of a
sophisticated and advanced culture.
It was also a time in Chinese culture when jade was more valuable
than gold, and likewise with the Olmec elite who had jade deposits
located in what is now Honduras and Guatemala. It may not be
coincidental that the Olmec, during their Middle Formative period
(900–300 B.C.), mastered the difficulties of shaping and drilling jade
(a stone so hard that it cannot be worked with steel tools), with
abrasive materials into small ornamental and votive pieces. The
similarities of Chinese and Olmec art is quite telling and for those
interested, an excellent comparison is presented in “Art and Ritual in
Early Chinese and Mesoamerican Cultures,” by Santiago Gonzalez Villajos.
The introduction of Chinese concepts of rulership and a stratified
society, along with Chinese religion and symbolism may have altered the
Olmec and later Mesoamerican groups. It was an event that would be
repeated in the 16th century when Spanish friars waded ashore carrying the cross of Christianity.
How Did the Sword Get to Georgia?… Some Possibilities
Around 900 B.C., these new Olmec cultural attributes started to
spread throughout the region. There is considerable literature
indicating that they served as a foundation for other contemporaneous
and subsequent cultural groups, such as the Maya. Though modified by
other groups to meet local needs and with changes over time, the basic
concepts of the Olmecs persisted into the 16th century
conquest period. Interestingly, some of these ancient concepts, such as
those relating to the planting of maize, are still practiced today
within certain Mesoamerican indigenous groups. It is generally believed
this dispersal was a by-product of the Olmec land and coastal maritime
trade routes transporting basic and exotic trade goods.
An intriguing element to this cultural phenomenon, and why it is
mentioned, is that it starts around 900 B.C., which as mentioned
previously, is when the Olmec started making jade ceremonial objects.
An example that illustrates the geographic extent of this cultural
diffusion is the distribution of flat and cylindrical printing seals, a
technology that first appears in the Mesoamerica artifact record with
the Olmec. In China, printing seals first appear during the Shang
Dynasty.
Olmec Traditions Spread North
By 800 B.C., the seals were in use in northern South America some
1,700 miles south of the Olmec heartland, and an equal distance to the
north with the Adena Culture (800 B.C.–1 A.D.) in what is now the upper
Ohio River Valley in North America. Not only did the printing technology
arrive in Ohio, but also Olmec art. In an unpublished research project
on the Adena tablet shown below, this author found stylistic duplicates
of the unique center vertical element representing the World Tree, at
the Lake Chalco region south of what is now Mexico City and at Veracruz
on the Gulf coast.
The arrival of seals at the beginning of the transformational
mound-building Adena culture, along with other evidence too plentiful to
include in this short article, indicates that an influential
Mesoamerican group entered the region and influenced the cultural
destiny of the local population.
Let’s return to Georgia. In 1685, Charles de Rochefort in his
chronicles regarding the Apalachites who occupied the lands in
southeastern America in the 17th century, writes: “These Apalachites boast, that they had propagated certain colonies a great way into Mexico. And
they show to this day a great road by land, by which they affirm that
their Forces marched into those parts… The Inhabitants of the country,
upon their arrival gave them the name of Tlatuici, which signifies Mountaineers or High-Landers…”
From all of this,
it is seems apparent that the circum-Caribbean region cultures, even in
more ancient times, were connected by water and land routes, and this
furnishes us a possible explanation as to how the sword and two
Olmec-style pendants arrived in Georgia.
Rochefort also writes, “This people [Apalachites] have a
communication with the Sea of the Great Gulf of Mexico or New Spain, by
means of a river … the Spaniards have called this river Riu del Spirito Santo [today known as the Mississippi River].”
While Rochefort’s observations are from after the conquest period,
his observations highlight a geographic fact that is often overlooked or
minimized in North American history. The various cultures occupying the
lands of now Georgia and other States fronting on the Gulf of Mexico,
along with the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, and South America, were in a
circum-Caribbean region where everyone knew his neighbors. One can
therefore reasonably assume that this is the reason is why ball courts
and rubber balls are found in both mainland Mesoamerica and the
Caribbean Islands.
Also, one cannot overlook that the Olmec and Maya had a fleet of
large ocean-going canoes plying the coastal waters of the Gulf region,
and the logistical organization to supply the basic needs of major urban
areas with population densities equal to today’s major cities. For
example, salt, a basic requirement for survival in the tropics, needed
in countless tons per month, was shipped from salt-producing facilities
in the Yucatan to known river ports stretching from the Honduran Moskito
Coast to Tampico, Mexico.
Other than being a wet and scary experience with no life preservers
in rough seas off the Moskito Coast, I can attest based on multiple
trips, the dugout log design works very well. Even today, with the
exception of Yamaha outboard motors, these vessels, which have not
changed in manufacture or design since the Maya, still transport tons of
stacked 50-gallon barrels of gasoline, food stuffs, and people into the
Honduran interior.
In the Greater Antilles, the impressive Taino culture, which migrated
from Venezuela starting around 400 B.C., and the Caribes, were equally
adept at traversing the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Christopher
Columbus makes numerous entries in his log of large Taino canoes,
measuring approximately 40 to 79 feet in length, laden with trade goods
and people. More noteworthy is that his log entries indicate that the
Taino knew of the Calusa in Florida and the Maya on the Yucatan
.
From all of this, it is seems apparent that the circum-Caribbean
region cultures, even in more ancient times, were connected by water and
land routes, and this furnishes us a possible explanation as to how the
sword and two Olmec-style pendants arrived in Georgia.
So, Were the Chinese in Georgia?
Part of the answer is the artifact itself. You have to ask why a
person would tote around a votive sword, which by definition is an
object “expressing a religious vow, wish, or desire: offered or
performed as an expression of thanks or devotion to God,” if they were
not Chinese.
Secondly, the sword is not the only diagnostic Chinese artifact found
nearby. Chinese researcher Dr. Lee disclosed that two other ancient
Chinese artifacts have been recently found within a two-hour drive of
the sword site. He will feature these artifacts in a forthcoming paper.
Also, there has been a remarkable number of other Chinese artifacts,
rock art script and symbolism located in southwestern America.
Unfortunately, in the quest for accuracy in historical and
archaeological topics, there never seems to be enough data to reach an
absolute and non-debatable answer that all can agree with. So the
question, “Were the Chinese in Georgia?” can only be answered
affirmatively when there is a sufficient amount of evidence to rise
above an individual’s “Threshold of Believability.”
A Closing Comment
About 90 years before Columbus first sailed into Caribbean waters,
the Ming Chinese dispatched flotillas under the command of Admiral Zheng
He on multiple voyages to the lands around the Indian Ocean to acquire
exotic items and materials.
The Admiral’s first expedition consisted of approximately 185 vessels:
- 62 or 63 baoshan or “treasure ships” were constructed for the first expedition, 440–538 feet long by 210 feet wide, four decks, nine masts, displacing an estimated 20,000–30,000 tons, approximately one-third to one half the displacement of a current large aircraft carrier.
- Machuan or “horse ships,” 340 feet long by 138 feet wide, eight masts, carrying horses, timber for repairs and tribute goods.
- Liangchuan or “grain ships,” 257 feet long by 115 feet wide, seven masts, carrying grain for crew and soldiers.
- Zuochuan or “troop ships,” 220 feet long by 84 feet wide, six masts.
- Zhanchuan warships, 165 feet long, five masts.
- 27,000-28,000 estimated sailors, soldiers, translators, and crew members
Somehow, one gets the impression this was not the Chinese’s first rodeo.
Republished with permission. Read the original at Ancient Origins.
Indigenous Peoples Research Foundation © 2015
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