Polynesian and South American place names

From: Yuri Kuchinsky (yuku_at_trends.ca)
Date: 08/17/04 

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 11:52:08 -0400

Greetings,

As all anthropologists and historians know, geographical
place names have a tendency to persist over the centuries,
and often even over the millennia. One population may be
replaced by another, and yet they tend to keep the old place
names. Often the new population doesn't even know what these
old names may mean, or sometimes they may create new folk
etymologies for them.

So here are some of the place names in Polynesia and in
South America.

All these South American place names come from within the
borders of the old Inca Empire -- most of them from the
heart of the Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) area.

S America Polynesia
______________________________________
ACARI AKARI
ACHIRI/TAQUIRI TAHIRI
APLAO ALAO
APURIMAC APOLIMA
ARAPA RAPA
ARICA KARIKA
ATICO ATITU
CALAMA KALAMA
CALANA KALANA
CAMANA TAMANA
CAPIA APIA
COROCORO KORO
CORACORA PORAPORA
ILO/HILO HILO
HUARA HUARA-RAI
HUATA TAHUATA
KEA KEA
KEA-KEA TEA-TEA
KILI KILI
KONA KONA
LAMPA RAMA
LARO RARO
LOA LOA

This is the first part of the list as compiled by Heyerdahl,
in his AMERICAN INDIANS IN THE PACIFIC, 1952, pp. 760-761.

On Heyerdahl's theory, these South American place names
would have been taken to Polynesia about 2000 years ago by
the earliest settlers from South America. But later, a new
wave of settlers arrived from North America, and replaced
those earlier cultures, while keeping at least some of the
old place names.

Regards,

Yuri.

Yuri Kuchinsky -=O=- http://www.trends.ca/~yuku

Winston Churchill's Commentary on Man:
"Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most
of the time he will pick himself up and continue on."

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