If the Polynesians and South American Indians did have contact,.....?

Question

When is the earliest possible date for this to have happened?

Answer 1

Thor Heyerdahl would argue that it could have been as early as pre-Columbian (14,000 BP to 1492). Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru and constructed a balsawood raft in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by the Spanish. Heyerdahl caught the Humbolt Current and sailed for 101 days over 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean before landing at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. The only modern equipment they had was a radio and watches. In 2007, evidence was released by the University of Auckland showing that a specific mutation in chickens native to Samoa and Tonga was seen in chicken bones found in Chile and dated to about 1400 AD. Some think that this provides strong evidence of trade between Polynesia and South America.

Answer 2

archaeological remains have been found in southern Chile dating to around 14,000 bc. this is earlier then the "land bridge" theory that the first people came from Asia into Alaska and moved south into the Americas. perhaps the south Americans were Polynesians to begin with