Sam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Posted by Hermione
>
>
> The possibility of some trans-Pacific influence on
> Mesoamerican cultures cannot, however, be so
> easily dismissed. Its most consistent proponent
> has been Professor David Kelly … who has long
> pointed out that within the twenty named days of
> the 260-day calendar so fundamental to
> Mesoamericans … is a sequence of animals that can
> be matched in similar sequence within the lunar
> zodiacs of many East and Southeast-Asian
> civilizations. To Kelley, this resemblance is far
> too close to be merely coincidental. Furthermore,
> Asian and Mesoamerican cosmological systems, which
> emphasize a quadripartite universe of four
> cardinal points associated with specific colors,
> plants, animals, and even gods, are amazingly
> similar. Both Asian and Mesoamerican religions see
> a rabbit on the face of the full moon … and they
> also associate this luminary with a woman weaving
> at a loom.
>
>
> I'm interested to see someone debunk this
> assertion. I've seen it crop up here and there.
\
At one time I looked at the (very old) Kelley and was not impressed. The "amazing similarities" are as always in the eye of the beholder. What is more fundamental is the basic structure of the Mesoamerican calendar of two interlocking calendars (one 260-day sacred calendar-- where all these names are supposed to come from and one 365-day solar/agricultural calendar) and all this on a base 20 mathematics and an initial zero date of a mythical date in 3314 BC. None of this corresponds to Asian calendars and is unique to Mesoamerica. Kelley picks and chooses between different Asian calendars and the "days" he chooses are not exactly similar to those in the Mesoamerican calendar. Thus the usual cherry picking of evidence.

Also it is, as usual, the flow comes FROM the wise outsiders to the ignorant natives. It would be as logical to propose that the names were borrowed by the Asians from the Mesoamericans. Further, as usual, there is no evidence or proposal of exactly what the mode of transportation would be avalable for the Chinese to make long-range deep sea round trips with the available technology several thousand years ago. Duncan Craig and I have been around this question many times. The burden of proof is on the proponents of contact.

Again we can raise the usual questions 1) given that the introduction New World food crops had a dramatic impact on the population growth of the Chinese-- why do we not see any trace of these important foods in pre-cplumbian times; 2) given that Old World diseases had a dramatic impact on New world populations- why is there no evidence of this pre-columbus and 3) If there was this important and influential contact why has a genuine Chinese or Asian artifact been found in a controlled archaeological excavation? There is no bronze in the Maya area.
Bernard