Some say the “land bridge” or maybe “Norsemen”
2006-09-26 05:07:42 · 14 answers · asked by namvet68 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
It would appear, especially now after new evidence is being re-interpreted, that many different people 'discovered' America over many different periods of time.
The book 1491 (highly recommended) shows that the Americas were probably already populated when the land bridge over the Bering Sea and the corridor through the glaciers was passable, suggesting that peoples from Asia had arrived just like how they populated Micronesia and Polynesia. There are some really surprisingly ancient fossils that are being unearthed in South America (Brazil and Paraguay) that suggest an even earlier population whose skeletons and artifacts suggest they might have travelled from Africa.
In the 1100's, there was definitely extensive maritime exploration by China all across the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. It is known that Chinese navigators set up Chinese trade colonies all throughout the Pacific, a heritage that exists through today, and went so far as the Persian Gulf where they came in contact with European traders and discovered that there was no danger from that quarter (then, of course, the Mongols showed up and chopped off EVERYBODY's heads). It is believed that Chinese explorers probably arrived in either Ecuador or Peru about this time and decided that this was also a place that would be a waste of time to explore.
Much later, there is extensive literature and artifacts showing that the Vikings did indeed colonize Newfoundland during a relative warm period, and may have had trading posts as far south as New England. These areas were ultimately abandoned when the cold returned to Greenland (not green, but not a wasteland yet either).
There is even a little-known tale of an Irish monk that was supposed to have gone adrift in a skin-lined raft who showed up somewhere in North America, but perhaps that is just to get everyone to quiet down on Columbus Day!
2006-09-26 05:22:20 · answer #1 · answered by sdvwallingford 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Actually,the Landbridge theory is thousands of years old. The Norsemen who were looking for more lands to live in actually came as close as present day NewFoundland in the 1200,'s
2006-09-26 05:16:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
There have been people on this continent for thousands of years (some scientists theorize this country was populated 30,000 years ago). Are you asking when foreigners first arrived here? Or, when was word of this land mass told to many others?
I believe the first foreign visitor who left proof was:
Leif Eriksson around 1000 in Canada
But, check out the Chinese World Map of 1418.
Columbus thought he had reached Asia. Other explorers from Zheng He, Zhou Man and Amerigo Vespucci all wrote of reaching new worlds . . .
Will we really ever know?
2006-09-26 05:34:35 · answer #3 · answered by PJinLA 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
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2016-12-18 17:16:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Indians
2006-09-26 09:22:13 · answer #5 · answered by Urntrede frdtrut 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Columbus 1492
2006-09-26 05:55:34 · answer #6 · answered by emad k 1 · 0⤊ 4⤋
"Discover" is a pretty ubiquitous term. Most likely is was the prehistoric migrations from Asia over the land bridge to which you refer.
2006-09-26 05:20:31 · answer #7 · answered by Jeff L 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The first Euopeans to discover America was the Vikins.
2006-09-26 05:15:17 · answer #8 · answered by ☮ Erica ☮ 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Great point, but I'm not 100%
2016-08-08 15:54:16 · answer #9 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OFFICIALLY , Columbus, along with Americo Vespucci who first saw land ,discovered America in 1492.
2006-09-26 05:18:58 · answer #10 · answered by maria32greece 3 · 0⤊ 5⤋