On Wed, May 11, 2016 at 12:54 PM, Craig Berry <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

It certainly *could* have happened, technologically. And there are enough oddities (e.g., Polynesian-style canoe construction at exactly one spot along the California coast) that it's clear that over the centuries a lot of mariners ended up a very long way from home. The only debate is whether enough migration or cultural contact happened in various places to make a real difference in cultural development.

Was it intentional and repeatable?

Is it even possible to make the trip in both directions? Or did they get an assist (like an ocean current) that pretty much ensures a one-way trip?

Or did they experience the equivalent of a missjump and being forced to homestead in a new location due to not being able to go home?

Or were they, effectively, political or criminal exiles, kicked out or fled from their homes with whatever they could pack on the boat, and facing the threat of execution or worse if they ever went home>

Decisions, decisions....

Dan

"Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine kook." -Alan Morgan