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SOUTH AMERICAN PARALLELS TO POLYNESIA
AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FIRST VOYAGE
The problem of how Polynesia was settled has caused more controversy than any other puzzle in the history of anthropology. Did the original settlers migrate from the west and Asia or did they come from the East and South America ? There is no doubt that Asia had a major part in the human migrations that peopled most of the Pacific but there were other possibilities from other directions that have been discredited by many experts and perhaps they occurred much earlier than any migration from Asia
Many anthropologists discount the possibilities of contact from South America reasoning that the boats available to the native South Americans in the past millennia and the navigators that sailed them were not able to make long, open ocean voyages. Contrary evidence has been uncovered throughout the South America such as reed ships provisioned with supplies and water for long voyages depicted in pyramids and ceramics outlining seagoing reed ships provisioned with supplies and water for long voyages. The elements favor a western movement for prevailing sea currents and winds sweep across the South Pacific directly from the Chilean/Peruvian Coast where ancient Pre-Inca civilizations regularly plied the coasts in reed and balsa rafts. Sailing against these natural migration routes would have been difficult in any ancient style boat.
The giant stone heads of Easter Island have become one of the foremost symbols of the insoluble mysteries of antiquity. The lesser known Tiwuanaco city in the high plains of Bolivia with giant stone figures and pyramids is also a puzzling mystery. Could they have been related? There are numerous similarities between Tiwuanaco and other Polynesian Islands suggesting a common ancestry.
Some of these parallels between the two regions include the use of reed boats, rock sculpture, stepped pyramids, sun worshipping, bird men cults, the practice of elongating ears, mummification, and similar mythology in both the Inca and Polynesia regions. One of the most striking South American legends concerns the Creator/Sun God - Kon-Tiki Viracocha. Kon-Tiki Viracocha or simply Viracocha, is the most universal god of most of the Andean cultures. According to Andean legend, he appeared as a white skinned, bearded man. He created man and the civilization and city of Tiwuanaco in Bolivia. Tiwuanaco was built complete with stepped pyramids, human rock figures, and stone work of precise fitting large blocks using reed boats to transport the large blocks of stone to the site. When his work was done he walked to the coast with some of his followers and disappeared to the west across the sea, following the setting sun. At about the same time, according to Easter Island legend, the first settlers arrived from the east. Could Viracocha have been the first settler of Easter Island carrying the seeds of civilization? Our first reed ship is named the Viracocha.
Perhaps there is no greater indicator to the movements of early man than the botanical evidence. There are several plant species that were found to be used in both Polynesia and South America by the first European explorers upon their discovery of those regions. They are all useful plants that a settler of new lands would likely have taken on a long voyage. The plant list includes the totora reed (Scirpus riparius) which the expedition's first reed ship has been constructed of. It grows on the shores of Lake Titicaca near Tiwuanaco and in the crater lakes of Easter Island. Other useful plants found in both regions include the tomato, sweet potato, tobacco, the bottle gourd papaya, the wild pineapple, yam and coconut palm.Many of these plant species which has been found to have existed longer in the Americas than Polynesia, suggests a western migration from South America. Most of these plants could only have been transported by man, the seeds of which could not have survived the long ocean drift or a birds migratory flight. The great number of American crop plants that can be shown as pre-European in Polynesia tells the story of overseas voyages. Our reed boat will be carrying some of these species to plant on Easter Island upon arrival.
The objective of the first voyage is to reinforce the theory that ancient mariners could have crossed oceans using trade winds and ocean currents to explore the globe, well before the time of Columbus. Our voyage will be the first to link the ancient civilizations of Tiwuanaco on the shores of Lake Titicaca, Bolivia and the isolated Easter Island of the Pacific, demonstrating that there could have been contact between two of the most mysterious civilizations of antiquity. No reed ship or other recreated ancient craft has made this voyage in modern times. The Viracocha will set sail from Arica, Chile, the closest sea port to the ancient civilization of Tiwuanaco. The crew will follow the natural human conveyer belt of the Humbolt Current to within 500 miles of one of the most isolated places on the planet, Easter Island. The final 500 miles will be very difficult, requiring tacking into the wind and working against circular vortex currents to reach the island. The Viracocha reed ship and its crew will follow the wake of the Kon-Tiki Viracocha and their impulse to follow the sun and desire to spread the seeds of civilization.

NOTE: THE VIRACOCHA ARRIVED AT EASTER ISLAND
ON SUNDAY, APRIL 9, 2000 AT 3:00 PM!