Long before Christopher Columbus set out for his first trip to the Americas in 1492, a number of Africans had already made this voyage.
Although the Malians, led by King Abubakari II, made the trip in 1300, archaeologists have found a number of artefacts that indicate that Africans had set foot and lived in South America as far back as 13,000 BC to the 600 AD,
The evidence indicates that people from Axum, Meroe and Land of Punt began settling in South America between this time, according to the skulls found in excavation projects in Ecuador, Valdivia, Chile, and among the Ponuencho of Peru.
According to studies:
Polish professor Andrzej Wiercinski revealed the discovery of African skulls at Olmec sites in Tlatilco, Cerro de las Mesas and Monte Alban. Even more ancient African skeletons that would clearly predate Columbus’ arrival in the Americas were discovered throughout Central America and South America with some even being unearthed in what is now California.
Scientists also believe that the similarity in religion between Africans and South Americans could be a link that the two had encountered each other.
Ancient portraits of the Quetzalcoatl, a messiah serpent god, and Ek-ahua, the god of war, are unquestionably Negro with dark skin and wooly hair. Why would native Americans venerate images so unmistakably African if they had never seen them before? Numerous wall paintings in caves in Juxtlahuaca depict the famous ancient Egyptian “opening of the mouth” and cross libation rituals. All these religious similarities are too large and occur far too often to be mere coincidences.
Some of the artefacts discovered included a stone head of a man wearing a circular earring on his right ear, an artefact quite similar to the carving of Akhenaton. There has also been the discovery of pots and water jars that were used in the Land of Punt.
More historians are saying that other evidence that proves this claim is the similarities between Axumites and Peruvians’ medical operations. The two groups used trepanning, a surgical procedure that involves the drilling of the skull indicated by the skulls dug out in both areas.
The Ancient Egyptians and Peruvians also had similar back string looms, which further indicated contact between the regions of the world.
The presence of Africans in South America has also been recorded by a number of historians who had travelled. Even Columbus himself mentioned in his records that, the native people told him that black skinned people had come from the south and southeast in ships trading in gold-tipped metal spears. This claim has also been mentioned by Nicholas Leon.
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With such strong proof, it is clear that Africans were influential in some of America’s civilisation and way of life.
