Ancient Asia

Photo; John Harding

 Asia is an extremely complex mosaic of intertwined cultures - some going back into the mists of time. If we look close enough, we do find that these ancient cultures have left their mark in subtle ways on existing Asian populations. Rather than looking at the present day dominant population groups, relic populations may show us a much clearer picture of Asia's past.

When looking at the plant and animal kingdoms, isolated pockets or 'refugia' species from a bygone era, can be found surviving, in hidden valleys, on mountain tops and on isolated islands. Similarly, relic populations of people leading traditional lives can also be found in inaccessible valleys, on mountain tops and on isolated islands. These special places are veritable time capsules of humanity and a window into our past.

Firstly, island populations have been in a better position to resist assimilation from incoming waves of population movement on the mainland. They may go

unnoticed at the height of an invasion and by their isolation they are naturally defended by an expanse of water, inaccessible by land based armies.A good example of island refugia are; the Andamanese of the Andaman Islands, the Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago in Thailand, the Moken of the Surin Islands in Thailand, the Chamoru of the Marianas, The people of Yami Island off Taiwan, the Batak of Samosir Island in Lake Toba and the Aborigines of Australia. All these people have succesfully held on to their traditional ways, due to their island isolation.

The other place where populations have avoided the onslaught of invasive migrations is in mountainous areas such as; the Negritos of Mindanao, the New Guinea Highlanders, the Ifugao and Bontoc people of the Luzon highlands, the Ibans and Penan of the rainforests of Borneo, the Atayal people of the highlands of Taiwan.

During the Bronze Age, S.E. Asia was a centre for sea trade used by China, Thailand, Java, India, the Persian Gulf and Egypt, creating a melting pot of cultures, forcing the native cultures of the area to assimilate. Java, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia were important trade centres during this time and although the cultural history of these areas runs deep, much has been lost to successive waves of colonizers that have dominated over the previous population group. Changes from Hindu to Buddhist and then to Islam and Christianity have not always been peacful. We can only guess at the original cultures of these areas.The Bronze Age Dong Son culture of Vietnam had a great influence in the region, spreading its feelers out to Borneo and the Phillippines. The Dusun rice growing culture of Borneo and the bronze drums of the Bontoc and Ifugao people of the mountains of Luzon are possible relics from this Bronze Age expansion. The Bugis of Sulawesi, which include the Makasar, Toraja, Mandar and Enrekang people, were once part of a powerful sea trading empire that had great influence in the region. The Bajau of the Phillippines and Sabah are also seafaring people who have also left their mark on indigenous cultures.The Hmong are another group of people who have migrated south from China into S.E. Asia, although their activities were essentially land based. Trade between India and S.E. Asia before, during and after the Bronze Age has been especially significant and as a result, a great deal of cultural traits in S.E. can be attributed to this trade contact with India, masking out evidence of indigenous populations.The Andamanese represent one of the earliest migrations out of Africa 100,000 years ago of short, dark frizzy haired pygmies. The Australian Aborigines and Batak are relics of a population expansion 40-50,000 years ago. The Chamoru,

Urak Lawoi and Moken are relics of another mysterious population that may be a relic population from a Pacific landmass that does not exist anymore.

 

DNA evidence of Negritos of S.E. AsiaThe (London) Independent, Aug 31, 1998  by Steve Connor Science Editor"SCIENTISTS MAY have found the direct descendants of one of the first tribes of early humans to emerge out of Africa about 100,000 years ago.The discovery promises to shed light on one of the most enigmatic periods in early human history, when the first people colonised the world, eventually leading to Homo sapiens becoming the only species to dominate every corner of the globe.Locks of hair stored at Cambridge University for the past 90 years have revealed DNA evidence to link the inhabitants of the remote Andaman Islands with the first anatomically modern humans to migrate across Asia.An analysis of their genetic makeup indicates they could be a lost tribe that has remained isolated from other humans for many thousands of years."

Further studies have shown that New Guinea Highlanders, who are also very short with frizzy hair, to have also migrated out of Africa as much as 120,000 years ago. It is highly likely that the Negritos of; Mindanao, North Queensland and Tasmania are also remnants of this anciant migration out of Africa.Legend has it that these short dark frizzy haired people inhabited Micronesia and much of Western Oceania. Some people even believe the Menehune of Hawaii and Tahiti were also Pygmies.

DNA Evidence of Chamoru Origins:Lum & Heathcote, 1998, from an article by Dr.  Lawrence J. Cunningham. "The Chamorus were very different (to the main Micronesian population).  These AN speakers clustered "with a diverse grouping of AN speakers and even with speakers of non-Austronesian languages" 

"The Chamorro sample has closest mtDNA similarity to two aboriginal Malay groups from western coastal Thailand (Moken and Urak Lawoi).  These results are intriguing, as all three groups are non-Oceanic Austronesian (AN) speakers.  Surprisingly, the next closest degree of similarity to the Marianas sample is with Japan, then aboriginal Australians, then a sample from Java." 

"Chamoru mtDNA is very distinctive when compared to other Micronesians and Polynesians.  This suggests that the Marianas have a different settlement history than the rest of Micronesia.  Chamorus have not mixed much with other

Micronesians.  This does not mean that Chamorus are Malays.  "What such close mtDNA affinity suggests is that Chamorros and aboriginal Malays have common maternal ancestors, 'way back when'.  The 'way back when' time being before the Chamorros were a distinctively crystallized group, before the colonization of the Marianas by people whose descendants would only later develop the way of living that defined them as 'Chamorros'" (Lum & Heathcote, 1998)."

Although one cannot help but feel there must be a connection - albeit seatrade contact between these builders of megaliths and the Easter Island statues, (megalithic structures in both areas were built around the 11th Century), their genetic origins are quite different.

S.W. Serjeantson “The Colonization of the Pacific – A Genetic Trail 1989 pp 135,162-163,166-7"Polynesians have had little contact with Micronesians. There are only a limited number of similarities in the HLA system. It is clear that Micronesia has had an independent source of HLA genes, probably from the Phillipines, as indicated by the high frequency of HLA-Bw35 which is absent from Melanesian and Polynesian groups."

Latte Stones and Latte Stone quarry, Rota Island.

The Chomoru are believed to be the original population of the Marianas prior to people arriving from the Philippines 3,500 years ago. What is even more surprising is that they process toxic cycad palm seeds in the same manner that Australian Aborigines do. Could this be a food they brought with them in ancient times?  The Cycad of this area is most closely related to species from

New Guinea and Java. Although the Cycad may have self seeded via oceanic drift, the fact remains that they were used as a food source by these ancient mariners. With the similarities in DNA and the presence of Australian Aborigine Skeletons in California, Panama and Tierre del Fuego- some of which are 40,000 years old, suggests that not only did Aborigines sail to Australia, but their seafaring adventures took them right across the Pacific! This clearly infers that there was a period of massive aboriginal population expansion by sea 40-50,000 years ago - north to the Marianas and East to the Americas.

It is often suggested that Aborigines arrived in Australia 40,000 years ago, but what if that is only part of the story. What if there were a different breed of people already living in Australia? We must remember that 99% of the Evidence from these earlier times has been erased either through rising sea levels or merely through the passage of time. What if the Aboriginal genome was created in Australia and relic populations of these people elsewhere in the world is a result of their expansion out of Australia, rather than into Australia as is commonly thought. Evidence from the Kow Swamp skeleton which is akin to Homo erectus, suggests that an earlier breed of human was still living in Australia only 10,000 years ago. The first Homo sapiens to enter Australia were the Pygmies 100,000 years ago. Relic populations of these short frizzy haired people are still living in North Queensland and were in Tasmania at the time of initial English colonization. Through progressive interbreeding, Aborigines could easily have developed their own unique mix of genes within Australia and eventually expanded out of Australia. Rex Gilroy firmly believes through his research that these people were called the Uru. He believes arranged stones in various places in New South Wales were from these people. 20-30,000 year old paintings of boats carrying up to 30 people have been found in the Kimberly region of NW Australia proving that these people were seafarers. He also believes there is evidence of Giganthropus - 750,000 year old giant hominid living in Australia, near the Murrimbidgee river, where 25kg axe heads have been found, proving that Australias history is much deeper than previously recognized.

An Indonesian legend and famous dance speaks of the 9 maidens from the south being significant ancestral figures of their people. A 17,000-30,000 year old painting of the nine dancing maidens can still be found in the Kimberlies of N.W. Australia. It is intriguing that the ancient Aboriginal name "Uru" and the Urak Lawoi of Thailand not only share the same DNA, but also have a similar name.

 

17-30,000 year old Gwion Gwion art depicting the nine dancing maidens. Nine dancing maidens from from Yami Is.In 2005, a New Scientist the article titled; "The Neanderthal within" proves beyond reasonable doubt, through the analysis of DNA that Homo sapiens did breed with Homo erectus. Athough mtDNA of Homo sapiens confirms an "out of Africa 150,000 years ago" scenario, the male line is more interesting. Unique clusters of DNA common to "Neanderthal Man" and Homo Sapiens shows that interbreeding did occur and that humans have inherited the DNA associated with the larger brain/skull of Neanderthal man. As well as this, Asians have inherited DNA cluster predisposing people to high cheek bones and short legs, inherited from the Asian "Peking Man". Similarly, Australian Aborigines have inherited skull thickness and brow shape from people interbreeding with Homo Erectus who survived in Australia up until 10,000 years ago, as seen by 10,000 year old skeletons found at Kow Swamp.

The skull of Taga man from the Marianas displays knobs and crests for muscle

attachment also found in Neanderthal skulls, once again this suggests an ancient breed of human survived in the Marianas region who interbred with incoming Homo Sapiens, producing the unique Chamoru genes.This suggests that a much greater landmass was present in the Marianas region in the distant past.

The Marianas have subsided over one kilometre over the last few million years. A significant island chain from Japan into the central Pacific would have once existed, allowing Homo erectus (Peking man) easy access into the islands of Micronesia - the home of the Chamoru.

The underwater boxing glove - is this the lost continent of the Pacific?

With regard to Indian influence in Asia, their history has been recorded in the Rigveda, The Veda, as discussed in the chapter on Genetic evidence was the racial group of humans with similar ancestry to Cro Magnon man, that dominated the planet from possibly as early as 70,000 years ago, up until 11,600 years ago, the time of the great flood. The partial demise of this Indian Ocean maritime culture occured at the same time as the partial demise of Cro Magnon man, who dominated a pan Atlantic culture of which Atlantis was a part. The Veda were also known as the Anu and in Hebrew texts from which the old testament was wriiten, Lord Anu was the culture bringer to the Sumerians, this occurred 10,000 years ago. In other words, Lord Anu must have been survivors of the great Veda civilization of India. It seems that they decided to resurrect their civilization amongst the Sumerian tribesmen. According to Christian O'Brien, in his book "The Genius of the Few" The great 'Lord Anu' decided to 'plant a garden in Eden', and so bring agriculture to the Middle East.Although it seems at face value that this is where agriculture began, Lord Anu arrived armed with a pre-existing knowledge of agriculture and how to build dams. More ancient agricultural plains must lie in 100metres of water on the continental shelf around India, unfortunately this can only be surmised by circumstantial evidence.Lord Anu and his men cannot have been the only survivors of this civilization. It is highly likely that others travelled East from their devasted homeland and planted the seeds for the beginning of other civilizations in S.E. Asia.

Graham Hancock in "Underworld - Kingdoms of the Ice Age" describes very well the aspects of the ancient civilization that once existed in India. From his research, it appears that not only were the Veda extremely knowledgeable in Spiritualism, Mathematics and Astronomy, hence their deep interest in the tropic of Cancer. Their interest in astronomy went hand in hand with their ocean navigation and mapping ability. These people accurately mapped India and the Maldives at a time when sea levels were over 100metres lower. This puts the time of this civilization around 18-20,000 years ago. Their passage to Australia and America was not achieved by floundering in the ocean, clinging to a piece of driftwood, but was most likely done on papyrus rafts, similar to the ones still built by the swamp people of the Indus and Tigris. Paintings done when Matthew Flinders first visited Tasmania, depicted reed rafts used by the natives, a possible legacy of their origins.If Tsunamis played a part in the destruction of this civilization, destroying the coastal seafaring communities, leaving only the people living on upland plateaus. It may explain why many present day Aborigines shun the coast for the drier upland areas, where kangaroos abound.

The East Asian civilization commonly known as the Jomon civilization was around from 16,000 years ago to 6,000 years ago, the Solutreans/Magdalenians/Atlanteans/Red heads were around from 18,000 years ago to 6,000 years ago, Graham Hancock in his book 'Underworld', he points out that the RigVeda speaks of learning academies 16,000 years ago. All this suggests that world civilization at this time was on a global basis and far more advanced than we have given them credit for. Interestingly, we have; Cro magnon man centred on the tropic of Cancer in the Carribean and flourishing on the shores of the Atlantic; the Veda, centred on the Tropic of Cancer near the Indus River and flourishing on the shores of the Indian Ocean; and the proto-Polynesians, centred on the Tropic of Cancer in Taiwan and flourishing on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. During these golden years, there was plenty of land and food for everybody, cultures benefitted from each other through trade, everyone spoke the same language - most probably the Na Dene language which is still found in America and North Africa and is a relic of Atlantis. The Na Dene language also has many similarities with Ainu language, possibly showing the extent of globalization at this time. (Interestingly Ainu genes are more closely related to native American genes containing the Caucasian haplotype X than European Caucasians - suggesting migration westward via America).The survivors of these ancient civilizations were spiritually aware, honest peace loving people. Trickery, deceit and war had no place in their culture. These qualities can still be seen in survivors of this age; the Ainu, Australian Aborigine, native Americans and the spiritually aware Veda and were once a very trusting people.

The Rongo Rongo texts describe the demise of the Caucasians in South America. In New Zealand stories of the Maori preying apon the relic population of defenceless tall white people have also filtered down, once again showing the nature of these peacable ancient people who knew naught of trickery or war. Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud) was the name of the canoe of Kupe - the discoverer of New Zealand. Why would he call his canoe land of the long white cloud before he had discovered land? Usually canoes mentioned in historical tales hint at who the people of that canoe were. He came before the Maori/Egyptian Maui/Rata legends of the discovery of New Zealand in 232 BC. Interestingly Aotearoa literally means world/day/dawn/cloud-white-tall. Could this be a reference to these ancient tall people/giants also mentioned in Native American and Greek legends? If so, then the Maori know of a much deeper history to their homeland, but have refrained from divulging it, due to the possibility of gross misunderstandings by people with political intentions not in the interests of native New Zealanders. As we see with Martin Doutre's book Ancient Celtic New Zealand, such

misunderstandings are destructive towards intelligent dailogue on the subject of our hidden histories. Every country has a past history that is different to the culture that is present there today. We must all accept that and move on. For the ignorant it may be easier to erase the past so that it does not confuse. This has been done many times in the past - the burning of the Library of Alexandria by Caesar, the burning of the library of Carthage, the burning of books by the Catholics in Italy, Spain and Mexico. Even the illiterate Incas were guilty of destroying the writing system of the people of Peru. All these atrocities have made us ignorant of our rich and wonderful past which connects cultures around the world during past periods of globalization.

The people of Taiwan too have suffered greatly at the hands of Chinese expansion over the past few thousand years, they too are a relic of a bygone population.

 

Examples of native Taiwanese people, photographed in 1920's

To help paint a picture of past connections between cultures, genetics is one of our better tools. This is what the DNA tells us;

Katsushi Tokunaga and colleagues. ‘Genetic link between Asians and Native Americans: A 24-CW8-B4B was commonly observed in Taiwan indigenous populations, Maori in New Zealand, Orochon in North East China, Inuit and Tlingit. Taiwanese and Maoris common haplotype. DB1* 0802 very common Allele in Native Americans and in Japanese (Ainu Ryuku and North East Asia).Haplotype A31-B51 commonly observed in both Native Americans (native Brazilian and N American Indians) and East Asians.

Shinji Harihara and colleagues: ‘Frequency of a 9bp deletion in the mitochrondrial DNA among Asian populations' Figure 2 has startling pie charts. It appears that Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Nieu, the Cook Islanders and the Maori had ancestors from the Shizuoka prefecture of Japan!

Antonio Torroni and colleagues : “The presence of Group B deletion haplotypes in East Asian and Native American populations but their absence in Siberians raises the possibility that haplogroup B could represent a migratory event distinct from the one(s) which brought group A, C and D mtDNA''s to the Americas”.

Fidias E, Leon S; 'Peopling the Americas' "People with the so-called ‘new' Allele . . . such as the Cayapa or Chachi from Ecuador also display an aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency that is molecularly similar to that found in Southeast Asia and Japanese people but absent in Northeast Asians. These similarities add strength to the proposal that ancient voyages could follow the Pacific sea currents that join Japan to South America as well as other routes.”

When the ancient civilisations around the world were destroyed by massive tsunamis 6,000 years ago, they began to fear the ocean and moved inland. They established societies on higher ground. Highland Swamp agriculture communities sprung up all over the world about 5,500 years ago, and can be found in places such as the Wahgi valley of New Guinea, Upper Amazon, Mississippi, Tigris, Nile, Indus, Niger (Lake Chad), Highlands of Luzon, Yangtse and the Mekong Rivers. The Asians, Caucasians and black Africans all reacted in the same manner to these global catastrophes. These are the exact places that archaeologists have found significant and rapid development of civilizations. They were always mystified why it happened so spontaneously all over the world. The answer is hidden in veritable time capsules under the waves in places like Yonaguni, Taiwan Banks, Sunda platform, India, Malta, Spain and the Caribbean. Archaeological evidence of civilizations 5,500 years old in China, the Middle East and Egypt are merely the "New Beginning."

 

Comparison between Hawaiian wood carving and Yonaguni MegalithYonaguni was truly Ka-Houpo-o- Kane (The bosom of Kane)

TattoosTattooing originated in East Asia and spread across to America and eventually into the Pacific and even across to Great Britain with the proto-Celts from America, where we find the Picts with tattoos surprisingly similar to Maori tattoos. The Picts were given this name by the Romans, but it is believed by many that their true name was the Caledonians. In Central America, a similarly named people, the Lancadones are a tattooed pale skinned tribe of the uplands of Guatamela who persist in wearing white robes similar to the Druids. It is highly likely that seafarers from this core group of Tattooed warriors of Central America both spread up to Scotland and down to New Zealand explaining the uncanny similarities in tattooing, trench and stake stockade design. In Scotland the European nature of these people was emphasized by interbreeding with mainland Caucasians, wheras in the Pacific, interbreeding with the Hawaiians, made their origins more obscure. The Lancandones are related to Mayans who interestingly do show a connection to Polynesia, especially Samoa, with round ended houses, Tapa cloth production and Cocoa.

As the Marquesans are quite adamant that their origins are from Con tiki Viracocha a Peruvian Explorer about 400A.D, there could be three similar cultures, all speaking Austronesian (see details of James L. Guthrie's work below, which indicates that Polynesian language is 30% Quechua) and all wearing tattoos, entering the Pacific from three different areas - Peru, Mexico and Canada.

A Pict from Ancient Britain         Marquesan Warrior                     Lingam stone, Fiji, suggesting an Indian origin

Lingam or phallic stones are found in India, Brittany (Armorica), Wales, Ireland, America and Fiji.Were the Tattooed Picts and Maoris a branch of part of a much bigger seafaring culture of Central America that eventually spread as far afield as Great Britain and New Zealand? Ring style fortifications are also a part of this culture, seen in Yucatan, on Koro Island, Fiji, New Zealand near Taranaki and Great Britain.

The "Haida Tattoo Kit" collected by ethnologist James G. Swan - Queen Charlotte Islands, July 1883, was uncovered at the National Museum of Natural

History by Lars Krutak of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. He was somewhat surprised, he was expecting tattoo implements derived from the Polynesian designs but instead he found himself looking at pictures that showed tools very similar to the traditional Japanese hand-poking instruments, especially the paint brushes.The Japanese used a stick at least a foot long with needles poking straight out, firmly attached to the end with thread. The stick would be grasped at the other end with the right hand, laid across the web of the thumb, and then using this as a fulcrum, jabbed into the skin. The paint brush would be held under the middle joint of the left hand, bristles hovering over the tattoo and offering a fresh supply of pigment for the tattooist to work from. The sticks the North Coast Indians used are much shorter than the Japanese stick though, perhaps half the length and the needles were in a looser grouping, not flattened out. I surmise the Haida would have held them in their right hand, much as we would hold a spoon, and simply pricked the skin repeatedly using wrist action. I have seen this method used in the South Seas.Excerpted from an article by Lars Krutak entitled:"Rediscovered! An Early Haida Tattoo Kit from the Queen Charlotte Islands." Pp. 11-13 in Skin & Ink: The Tattoo Magazine. November 2002.  www.vanishingtattoo.comFrom the above article it could be inferred that Haida tattooing was derived from Japanese tattooing techniques and Polynesian tattooing techniques could well be derived from Haida tattooing technique.

Trans Pacific cultural similarities

   

Taiwanese natives of the highlands in the 1920's. and a Crow 'Long Ear' from North America.

James L. Guthrie has done extensive work collating not only genetic data, but also numerous scientific articles that back up the genetic findings. The following are a few excerpts out of his paper published by the New England Antiquities Research Association, on; Human Lymphocyte Antigens: Apparent Afro-Asiatic, Southern Asian, & European HLAs in Indigenous American

PopulationsThe following information is on Asian influences in America, compiled by James L. Guthrie.

Exploration of the Pacific seems to have been well underway by the third millennium B.C., tropical Asian parasites, Jômon-like pottery, monumental architecture, and various Oceanic traits had appeared in western South America. Numerous effects on language have been claimed, including impressive recent findings by Foster (1998) of lexical elements shared by Austronesian and Quechua as well as by Mixe-Zoquean.  Previously, Imbelloni (1928b) had claimed that Quechua seemed to be 30% Polynesian and linguist Christian (1923)had argued for a Sanskrit influence on Araucanian, all paralleling the genetic evidence.Dates given by Ibarra Grasso (1982) for transpacific influences, based on decades of study, are a little before 3000 B.C. (from Indonesia to Ecuador and Mexico) plus three more waves to Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico from various Asian sources at 1800-1500 B.C., 1000-700 B.C., and about 500 B.C.  Tolstoy (1974) compiled an extensive list of traits that seem to have been transmitted from Southeast Asia to South America, and a similar list for Mesoamerica.  McLean (1979) listed 38 musical traits shared by Asia, Oceania, and America, including the musical bow, panpipes, and the slit drum.  Many others have compiled comparative trait lists, including Nordenskiöld (1924, 1933), MacLeod (1929), and Campbell (1983-89).Perhaps the most thoroughly analyzed traits are bark-cloth technology (Tolstoy 1963, 1966), blowguns (Friederici 1915; Jett 1970, 1991), ceramics (Meggers, Evans, and Estrada 1965; Stocker 1991), and calendrics (Kelley 1960).  Schobinger (1956) examined the distribution of Mapuche ceremonial batons that have the same form as those of Polynesia, and Heine-Geldern (1958) reported stone sarcophagi at San Augustín, Colombia, that are much like those of Java, other Indonesian islands, and Taiwan.  Key (1964) noted unusual resin-glazing of pottery made by the Cavineño (Tacana) Indians of Bolivia, a process also used in Burma and by Austronesians of North Borneo, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the Philippines.  Other detailed comparisons have been made of clubs (Skinner 1974) and music (panpipes, bow, trumpet, nose flute, mouth harp, (M. Ling 1961).  See also the world “song map” of Lomax and Erickson (1968).  Some shared traits have ancient roots, while others, such as ikat dyeing, may not have been present in America for more than about a thousand years (VanStan 1957; Jett 1999a).Studies of mummies and coprolites have established the presence of tropical intestinal parasites, especially Ancylostoma duodenale, in ancient South America; They were present at; Tio da Pedra Furada (Brazil) by 5000 B.C. This

suggests a direct entry via the tropics into south America, as the parasite would not have survived it's lifecycle in transit via the Bering land bridge.Glenn Whitley (1974a, 1974b) argued for transfer of southern Asian traits to eastern Brazil through Madagascar and South Africa, partly on the basis of Arawak and Tupi names for the fulvous tree duck and for the jangada raft, that are very similar to the Asian names.  Details of duck domestication, fishing techniques, and blowgun use are similar as well.  Others have claimed that Indonesian traits extended to West Africa (Hutton 1946; Jones 1964) and from there to America (Buhler 1946, comparing ikat reserve dyeing in Madagascar and America; Marschall 1972 and Jett 1970, 1991, comparing blowguns).  Also, Solheim (1968) suggested that Madagascar provided the link for puzzling trait similarities in Africa, certain Pacific islands, and South America.  Madagascar is known to have been colonized from Indonesia by at least A.D. 400 and probably significantly earlier.

Some workers have long noted the resemblance of Melanesian crania to those from the Fuegan region, Lower California, and parts of Amazonia, but the probable principal explanation is that the earliest Americans were part of an expansion that also populated Melanesia and Australia. Skeletons from Lagoa Santa (Brazil) with apparent Melanesian aspects date to 9500-8000 years ago (Guidon 1992) and Kate (1884). However, voyagers from Melanesia may have reached America at much later dates as well. Lehmann (1930) thought Melanesian influence accounted for “Negroid” traits in certain populations of California, Panama, coastal Venezuela, and Colombia (San Augustín).  Rivet (1925) compared the Fuegan Tson (Chon) languages to those of Australia, and Loukotka (1948) claimed vestigial Australian traits in languages of the Alakaluf, Puelche, and Araucano-Mapuche (but not Yahgan).  Swadesh (1961) put common origins back 5000 to 18,000 years. “Melanesian” traits noted in South America include bow culture, basketry, use of lime with narcotic plants, masks, axes, fire drills, pile dwellings, and horticultural practices (Graebner 1909; Nordenskiöld 1920; Koppers 1930; Ibarra Grasso 1961; and others). Musical similarities such as details of panpipe design and pitch seem especially valuable.  Von Hornbostel (1936) likened Fuegan songs to those of Australia, Ceylon, and the Andaman Islands. Most, but probably not all, “Australoid” traits came with very early colonization along the Asian and American coasts.

Contemporary genetic and linguistic studies are beginning to demonstrate an important but unrecognized early connection spreading from India to Japan and eastern Africa , reaching Peru and Ecuador by 3500B.C. León (1994) has published a summary updated to include virological and genetic (mitochondrial

DNA, HLA) data supporting arrival by sea in South America of Jômon people about 3000 B.C. A previously unsuspected center of expansion from the Sea of Japan” that “might have been responsible for a migration to the Americas”.  This migration seems to have reached Colombia, as shown by the data of Zamora et al. (1990) and Miura et al. (1994), who found the same rare variety of HTLV-I virus in Japan and among isolated Paez tribes of Colombia.  Miura et al.’s interpretation is that two lineages (A and B) were carried anciently from India to Japan, but that only lineage A reached America.  Lineage A is now found among the Paez, the Ainu, and the people of the Ryukyu Islands.  I think two movements from Japan may have occurred, one during Middle Jômon times and another about 600 B.C., bringing Near-Eastern traits. Beirne (1971) had discussed star-shaped and ring maces as well as the method of hafting, as evidence for direct influence from Japan. The Zuni provide another example of a more recent arrival from Japan. Several kinds of information, including genetic, linguistic, and dental, as well as tradition, indicate that they assimilated a Japanese component in the 13th century (Davis 2000). The Zuni have the same HLA subtype B*3501 as the Japanese (Belich et al. 1992).Theodore G. Schurr.

The Nahua are genetically nearly identical to the Cherokee. Spuhler (1979) found that the Cherokee were allied with Hokan speakers, especially the Diegueño of California.  His data appear to generate the cluster: Cherokee, Diegueño, Maricopa, Pima, Papago, and Zuni. The Ipiutak Eskimos, who are undoubtedly part of the Circum Polar culture, have art styles that have been called “Scythio-Siberian” like those of the lower Ob region of the late first millennium B.C. (Larsen and Rainey 1948, Schuster 1952; Rainey 1971).

Chinese and American artistic traits involve technology and customs pertaining to jade and metals (Balser 1968; Towle 1973), ceramic house models (Lehman 1964; von Winning 1971; Gartelmann 1986), geomancy (Heyden 1981), specific breeds and uses of dogs and chickens (Fiennes and Fiennes 1968; Carter 1971; Johannessen, Fogg, and Fogg 1984), mirrors (Probst 1963; Jett 1983), and panpipes(Pan L. C. 1963; Marschall 1966; Teikener 1977).  These traits are concentrated on the west coasts of Mesoamerica, Ecuador, and Peru, but seem to have arrived over an extended period.  Needham et al. said that significant Chinese influence began about 700 B.C. and continued to A.D. 1600.

Mirrors were known in China by 2600 B.C., and comparable devices appeared

at Huaca Prieta, Peru, about 2500 B.C., then at La Venta, Mexico (Probst 1963).  Mexican mirrors of similar antiquity are now known from Olmec San Lorenzo and from Oaxaca.  However, these may reflect indirect Mesopotamian rather than Chinese voyages.  Distinctive forms of Chinese “ancestor stones,” carried to Indonesia and Japan as well, apparently did not appear in Mesoamerica until about 1000 B.C. (Lou 1971) and ceramic house models are later, first appearing in Ecuador about 200 B.C. (von Winning 1969).  

In numerous publications, Barthel (e.g., 1974, 1981, 1982), proposed an Indian and Indonesian base for religious and calendric concepts, as did Heine-Geldern and Ekholm (1951) and Giesing (1984).  The most convincing demonstrations are probably those involving calendars and deities from the Indian system of lunar mansions (Kelley 1960, 1974, 1975; Stewart 1974).  The Mesoamerican calendar is likely to have come from Northwest India about 400-100 B.C.  A similar system is still in use in Java and Bali (Barthel 1973).  Similar influences seem to have reached Ecuador, perhaps as early as 500 B.C. (Gartelmann 1986). 

Mesoamerican art, architecture, and religious practices have remarkable parallels in India.  Among these are mudras (Martí 1971; Medvedov 1982), ritual use of shell trumpets (Jackson 1916; Vokes 1963), medical uses of the Asiatic black-boned chicken(Johannessen, Fogg, and Fogg 1984), and details of the hook-swinging rite (Hewitt 1894; MacLeod 1934).  Turbans like those of specific regions of India were used in Mexico by 2000 years ago (Smith 1924), and the distribution of turban types elsewhere in America—for example in the southeastern United States—might give clues to later population movements.

Traits of apparent Indian or East Asian origin also appear in South America. These include Peruvian methods of hafting axes (Bierne 1971); textile technology (Silow 1949), including Peruvian tie-Dying (Kerr 1921; Jett 1999a); presence of, and customs regarding, various Asian chickens (Carter 1971); and traditions regarding the nose flute that are similar in India, Bali, Sulawesi, Tahiti, and Mato Grosso (Werner 1973).There is evidence as well for backflow of Mayan influence to Indochina, India, and westward to Europe between the fifth and eighth centuries A.D., especially in the form of early presence of maize in Indonesia, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, and parts of India (Stonor and Anderson 1949; Koppers 1953; Gupta and Jain 1973; Vishnu-Mittre 1974; Johannessen 1989, 1998; Johannessen and Parker 1989; Sachan and Sarkar 1986).  The early Asian maizes appear to be the smaller, “primitive” varieties and not the “Caribbean” type later carried to South Asia by the Portuguese.

The five Andean samples with HLA data are somewhat diverse.  Araucanians are farthest from the others. Some investigators have noted traits reminiscent of the European Paleolithic among populations of southernmost South America (Juan Schobinger in Greenman [1963:82]).  The Araucanians also possess Oceanian cultural traits, according to several investigators.  The Mapuche are a subgroup of Araucanians who seem genetically intermediate between the Araucano of Chile and Andeans farther north. Mapuche sample is closer to the Araucanian sample than to others. Aymara and Atacama samples are statistically indistinguishable from one another, despite the different language families of the peoples (Andean and Paez).  They are both genetically very unlike the Araucanians.  The Quechua composite data from Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, showed these populations vary considerably. This puzzled Mourant (1976), who apparently did not realize that the Inca had imposed the Quechua language on diverse populations.  The use of mixed Quechua data makes them seem central to the others. There was a general migration southward during the Inca expansion, which the Araucanians were able to resist.  Two other groups from the Titicaca region, the Chipaya (Uru) and the Calchaqui (Diaguita) lack HLA data but are known to have other “non-Indian” genes.James L. Guthrie and all the scientists mentioned above will hopefully be given credit for their detailed work, which as a whole, paints a wonderfully detailed picture of America's past, unlike the narrow minded isolationist theorists that choose to ignore 99% of the above information. As we can see migrations in the past have been many, whether through trade or as colonizers, we may never know, but one thing is for certain - extensive oceanic travel has been going on for a very long time.

Caucasians in AsiaRecently, 6-7,000 year old red haired mummies have been found in central China associated with pyramids and stone buildings, similar to ones found in Peru, Easter Island and Africa. Genes from surviving members of this racial enclave suggest that they have remained isolated from the genetic development of this region. The chronology of these people puts them in the timeslot when the Red Heads dominated the Americas, but before the red headed Celts of Europe came into existence. In other words, they are a branch of the "Age of the Red Heads" in America and may have been part of an extensive trade network that stretched all the way to Egypt. In doing so, they may have imparted their astronomical knowledge and mapping techniques to the Chinese, which helped kick start one of the longest surviving civilizations on the planet.

  

Phoenician style hut found in Tibet, Similar to Tupas on Easter Island and Chulpas in Peru,

Red Haired mummy, China                          Pyramid Tibet 

Chinese Pyramid. an attempt to hide the pyramid under forest has been made.

The amount of pyramids in this region rivals that of Egypt.

Hausdorf an investigator of chinese pyramids reports: There are over 100 pyramids, made of clay, that have become nearly stone hard over the centuries. Many are damaged by erosion or farming. One pyramid is as large as the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacan in Mexico (which is as large as the Great Pyramid of Giza). Most are flat topped, some have small temples on top. There is a also stone pyramid in Shandong, about 50 feet tall.One of the oldest and largest pyramids in the world is found in Tibet - the White Pyramid, located in the Qin Ling Shan mountains, about 100 km southwest of the city of Xi'an, in the People's Republic of China. It is reported to be about 300 meters high. Initial estimates suggested that it was 4,500 years old, but Hausdorf mentions the diaries of two Australian traders who, in 1912, met an old Buddhist monk who told them these pyramids are mentioned in the 5,000 year old records of his monastery as being "very old." In otherwords possibly 6-7,000 years old.

 

The author spending time with Iban long Ears, Sarawak, 1976.

The following excerpt of a Tibetan legend suggests Tibetan contact with the islands off ChinaThe Tibetan was the descendents of Avalokitesvara, a disciple of Buddha and known as GuanYin by Han people (Jiaga in Tibetan) as a goddess, the Venus of Han. Moreover, the Rock-demon became a goddess (Tara or Mother-savior, Jeo-Tuu Muu) in Buddhism). In fact, the great 5th Dalai Lama further claimed that the Tibetan King, Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo), was a reincarnation of Avalokitesvara, and his Han wife, princess Wen-Cheng, was the reincarnation of the goddess Tara or Mother-savior. This becomes an important story of Tibet. Even today, the palace of Dalai Lama in Lhasa is called `Potala Palace'. Note that `Potala' is the residence of Avalokitesvara which in Han Character is `Putou', and there is an island in the East China Sea with the name Putou San which is supposed to be the residence of GuanYin.

 

Ancient Japanes diving suit, possibly used for exploring these ancient ruinsas mentioned in Japanese folklore.

Remains of the 10,000 year old civilization off Yonaguni.The line of holes drilled in the rock on the left is very similar to holes found in rocks in Peru and on Rapa nui that were used for placing branches in, to form the walls of their 'inverted boat' houses.The concept of making megalithic heads as seen in the Olmec culture and later on Rapa nui seems to have stayed with these people.

Another legend tells of great and highly evolved beings with powers of Gods and Goddesses. At the height of their glory they were known as magical, enlightened, playful and sensual beings who had the ability of bringing the divine good....or God, out in each other. As time went on, this civilization became too structured, too permanent and lost much of it's playful and magical qualities. In a cataclysmic event, they were sunk, along with their cities. Using their magical and divine abilities the Gods and Goddesses became creatures of the sea, whales, dolphins, mermaids and mermen.