World Trade and Biological Exchanges Before 1492

by John L. Sorenson

People moved into America very early across the Bering Strait. By the fifth millennia B.C.E. tropical sailors brought diseases to America and took plants and animals in both directions. Long before Columbus, tropical sailors carefully selected crops from New World highlands and shorelines, wet and dry climates, and took them to the Old World where they were grown in appropriate environments. Medicinal and psychedelic plants were traded and maintained in Egypt and Peru during separate, 1,400-year periods. This implies that maritime trade was continuous. In this groundbreaking book, learn 84 plants that were taken from the Americas to the Old World. What plants and animals were brought to the Americas. Why world trade was essential for transfer of so many. Interconnectedness of civilizations had to result from world trade. Dating of 18 species by archaeology with radio carbon shows dispersal. And much more! Plants, diseases, and animals from America were distributed throughout the world, across the oceans before 1492. It is time for scientists, teachers, and students to reconsider their beliefs about the early history of civilization with World Trade and Biological Exchanges Before 1492.

604 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009