Editing Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories (section)

=== Claims of Chinese contact ===
[[File:Olmec mask at Met.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A jade [[Olmecs|Olmec]] mask from [[Central America]]. Gordon Ekholm, an archaeologist and curator at the [[American Museum of Natural History]], suggested that the Olmec art style might have originated in [[Bronze Age]] China.<ref>Pool, p. 92, who cites Gordon Ekholm (1964) "Transpacific Contacts" in ''Prehistoric Man in the New World'' JD Jennings and E. Norbeck, eds., Chicago: University of Chicago, pp. 489–510.</ref>]]
Some researchers have argued that the [[Olmec]] civilization came into existence with the help of Chinese refugees, particularly at the end of the [[Shang dynasty]].<ref>This theory is mentioned in the history book [[The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community]] (1963) by [[William Hardy McNeill|William H. McNeill]]</ref> In 1975, [[Betty Meggers]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] argued that the Olmec civilization originated around 1200 BCE due to Shang Chinese influences.<ref>Meggers.</ref> In a 1996 book, Mike Xu, with the aid of Chen Hanping, claimed that [[celt (tool)|celts]] from [[La Venta]] bear Chinese characters.<ref>Xu, ''Origin of the Olmec civilization''.</ref><ref>[http://www.chinese.tcu.edu/www_chinese3_tcu_edu.htm Dr. Mike Xu's Transpacific website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010802024552/http://www.chinese.tcu.edu/www_chinese3_tcu_edu.htm |date=August 2, 2001 }}, comparing Olmec and Chinese Shang period artifacts.</ref> These claims are unsupported by mainstream Mesoamerican researchers.<ref>David C. Grove (1976) "Olmec origins and transpacific diffusion: reply to Meggers" [https://www.academia.edu/1553330/Olmec_origins_and_transpacific_diffusion_reply_to_Meggers]</ref>

Other claims of early Chinese contact with North America have been made. In 1882, approximately 30 brass coins, perhaps strung together, were reportedly found in the area of the [[Cassiar Gold Rush]], apparently near [[Dease Creek]], an area which was dominated by Chinese gold miners. A contemporary account states:<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dean|first=James|journal=[[The American Naturalist]]|date=January 1884|pages=98–99|volume=18|issue=1|jstor=2450831|doi=10.1086/273578|title=Anthropology|doi-access=free}}</ref><blockquote>In the summer of 1882 a miner found on De Foe (Deorse?) creek, Cassiar district, Br. Columbia, thirty Chinese coins in the auriferous sand, twenty-five feet below the surface. They appeared to have been strung, but on taking them up the miner let them drop apart. The earth above and around them was as compact as any in the neighborhood. One of these coins I examined at the store of Chu Chong in Victoria. Neither in metal nor markings did it resemble the modern coins, but in its figures looked more like an Aztec calendar. So far as I can make out the markings, this is a Chinese chronological cycle of sixty years, invented by [[Yellow Emperor|Emperor Huungti]], 2637 BCE, and circulated in this form to make his people remember it.</blockquote>

Grant Keddie, curator of archeology at the [[Royal B.C. Museum]], identified these as good luck temple tokens which were minted in the 19th century. He believed that claims that these were very old made them notorious and he wrote that "The temple coins were shown to many people and different versions of stories pertaining to their discovery and age spread around the province to be put into print and changed frequently by many authors in the last 100 years."<ref name="Question">{{cite journal |last1=Keddie |first1=Grant |title=The Question of Asiatic Objects on the North Pacific Coast of North America: Historic or Prehistoric? |journal=Contributions to Human History |date=1990 |issue=3 |url=http://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Asiatic-Objects.pdf |access-date=February 8, 2020 |publisher=Royal British Columbia Museum |issn=0832-8609}}</ref>

A group of Chinese Buddhist missionaries led by [[Hui Shen]] before 500 CE claimed to have visited a location called [[Fusang]]. Although Chinese mapmakers placed this territory on the Asian coast, others have suggested as early as the 1800s<ref>Anonymous (1892). "The Land of Fu-Sang,' ''Science'' 20:148; reprinted in [[William R. Corliss]], ed. (1978) ''Ancient Man: A Handbook of Puzzling Artifacts'', Glen Arm, Maryland: Sourcebook Project, {{ISBN|0-915554-03-8}} p. 767</ref> that Fusang might have been in North America, due to perceived similarities between portions of the California coast and Fusang as depicted by Asian sources.<ref>{{cite book |last=Feder |first=Kenneth L. |title=Frauds, Myths and Mysteries |edition=Third |publisher=Mayfield |year=1999 |pages=103–104 |isbn=978-0-7674-0459-4 }}</ref>

In his debunked [[Pseudohistory|pseudohistorical]] book ''1421: The Year China Discovered the World'', British author [[Gavin Menzies]] claimed that the [[Ming treasure voyages|treasure fleets]] of [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] admiral [[Zheng He]] arrived in America in 1421.<ref name="GM">[[Gavin Menzies|Menzies, Gavin]]. ''[[1421: The Year China Discovered the World]]'' (Transworld Publishers, 2003).</ref> The consensus among professional historians is that Zheng He only reached the eastern coast of Africa, and they dismiss Menzies's claims as entirely without evidence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://1421exposed.com/|title=The 1421 myth exposed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318191709/http://1421exposed.com/|archive-date=March 18, 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Zheng He in the Americas and Other Unlikely Tales of Exploration and Discovery |url=http://www.csicop.org/sb/2004-09/tales.html |access-date=March 22, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070317044419/http://www.csicop.org/sb/2004-09/tales.html |archive-date = March 17, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com:80/arb/article.php?article=201|title=1421: The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030705160338/http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/arb/article.php?article=201|archive-date=July 5, 2003|url-status=dead|access-date=March 22, 2007}}</ref><ref name="finlay2004">{{cite journal |last=Finlay |first=Robert |url=http://www.michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/1421.pdf |title=How Not to (Re)Write World History: Gavin Menzies and the Chinese Discovery of America |journal=[[Journal of World History]] |volume=15 |issue=2 |year=2004 |doi=10.1353/jwh.2004.0018 |pages=229–242 |s2cid=144478854 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109021554/http://www.michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/1421.pdf |archive-date=November 9, 2013 }}</ref>

In 1973 and 1975, [[doughnut]]-shaped stones that resembled stone anchors which were used by Chinese fishermen were discovered off the coast of California. These stones (sometimes called the ''Palos Verdes stones'') were initially thought to be up to 1,500 years old and therefore, they were thought to be proof of pre-Columbian contact by Chinese sailors. Later geological investigations showed that they were made of a local rock which is known as [[Monterey Formation|Monterey shale]], and it is currently believed that they were used by Chinese settlers who fished off the coast during the 19th century.<ref>[[Kenneth L. Feder|Feder, Kenneth L.]] (2010). ''Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum''. Westport, CN: Greenwood. p. 209. {{ISBN|978-0-313-37919-2}}</ref>