Re: maize in Europe and India: a twisted tale

Douglas Weller (dweller@ramtops.demon.co.uk)
Sun, 12 Jan 1997 09:00:45 GMT

On 10 Jan 1997 15:30:47 GMT, yuku@io.org (Yuri Kuchinsky) wrote:

>Douglas Weller (dweller@ramtops.demon.co.uk) wrote:
>: On 7 Jan 1997 15:20:26 GMT, yuku@io.org (Yuri Kuchinsky) wrote:
>
>: [SMIP]
>
>: >If yes, i. e. maize indeed came to India before Columbus, this will be a
>: >huge breakthrough that will shed much light on research in quite a large
>: >number of disciplines: archaeology, anthropology, ethnobotany, and
>: >ancient AND modern history, to name but a few. This will prove beyond any
>: >reasonable doubt that ancient Americans possessed sailing craft capable
>: >of crossing the Pacific, that they did cross the Pacific, and that they
>: >perhaps even had regular links with Asia -- however incredible this may
>: >sound.
>
>: How do you get from pre-1492 maize in India to all these 'amazing' <G>
>claims?
>
>Well, Doug, which of these claims seem really amazing to you?

Oh dear. My choice of words as a pun, which you've missed. I don't see maize
in India as proof (well, making a strong probability) of anything in the
paragraph above.

>If Columbus was not "The Bringer of Maize to the World", as is commonly
>believed, i. e. if a false myth of such dimensions was indeed constructed
>and accepted by all, exposing of this false myth alone will be an
>_amazing_ result of these investigations.
>

Interesting, that 's all. We all know he didn't discover America, and I
really hadn't realised that he'd been the first person to bring maize to
Europe.

But my point is that there is a big jump between maize in any particular
location and claims for regular contact.
>

--
Doug Weller Moderator, sci.archaeology.moderated
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