🗿 Pre-Columbian contact confirmed

Genomes from 807 people across 17 Polynesian islands show one Native American contact event around AD 1200–1230. Independent dating puts it at AD 1234 ± 90.

The closest match is to Colombia–Ecuador coastal groups, not Peru or Chile. After that first contact, the signal spread island-to-island across eastern Polynesia.

In many islands the Native American ancestry is ~2–8% of the genome. Rapa Nui has two layers: an older Polynesia-shared Native American signal plus a later Native American component tied to 19th-century Chilean migration.

The pattern also fits winds, currents, and the spread of sweet potato across the Pacific.

Takeaway: Polynesians and Native Americans met in eastern Polynesia around the 13th century, and that ancestry persists today.

Source: Ioannidis et al., 2020. Native American gene flow into Polynesia predating Easter Island settlement.