In the 1960s, archaeologists uncovered a Viking settlement on Newfoundland’s coast, a find that pre‑dated Christopher Columbus’s celebrated 1492 crossing by roughly five centuries. That breakthrough knocked down the long‑held belief that Columbus was the first to lay eyes on the New World (aside from the Indigenous peoples who had lived there for millennia, of course). So, if the Norse could pull it off, who else might have managed to cross the Atlantic before fourteen‑hundred‑ninety‑two? Below are ten theories—spun by university scholars, museum curators, and dedicated hobby historians—that suggest other cultures may have beaten Columbus to the Americas. The focus keyword “10 peoples might” appears right at the start of this opening paragraph, setting the stage for a fun yet scholarly ride.
10 Polynesian Voyagers
The legendary odysseys of the ancient Polynesians even inspired Disney’s 2016 hit Moana. Beginning roughly three millennia ago, they set sail in sturdy ocean‑going catamarans, establishing colonies across New Zealand, Hawaii, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and countless islands in between. Their interconnected web—known today as the Polynesian Triangle—covers an area larger than modern Russia.
Evidence strongly suggests Polynesians reached South America well before Columbus. Sweet potatoes, native to the Andes, were being cultivated on Mangaia and Hawaiʻi centuries prior to any European contact. In 2007, archaeologists uncovered chicken bones in Chile dating between 1321 and 1407 AD. While DNA proof is still pending, Polynesians were renowned for transporting chickens across the Pacific.
Genetic studies of Rapa Nui inhabitants reveal South American DNA entering their gene pool sometime between 1300 and 1500 AD. Some argue that Andean peoples could have drifted eastward on balsa rafts—Thor Heyerdahl famously sailed a replica from Peru to Raroia in 1947—but most scholars favor the superior vessels and sophisticated wayfinding of the Polynesians, techniques still practiced today, as the more plausible conduit.
9 Japanese Fishermen
During the late 1960s, Ecuadorian entrepreneur Emilio Estrada led an excavation at Valdivia, a 5,000‑year‑old site in Ecuador. Among the artifacts, a trove of unusual pottery caught his eye, prompting him to write to Betty Meggers at the Smithsonian for identification. Meggers responded that the ceramics closely resembled 5,000‑year‑old Jōmon pottery from Japan.
How could a Japanese vessel have traveled all the way to Ecuador? One theory points to the Kuroshio Current, notorious for sweeping Japanese fishing junks far offshore, sometimes leaving crews adrift for months. Historical records note a 1815 incident where a junk washed ashore near Santa Barbara, California, with three survivors after a 17‑month odyssey. Another case in 1843 saw a junk strand on the Mexican coast, its two fishermen still alive but traumatized.
Although the Kuroshio does not provide a direct route to Ecuador, researchers have detected DNA markers and unique viral signatures in the region that hint at a Japanese presence. If this hypothesis holds, those fishermen would have beaten Columbus by roughly 4,500 years.
8 Irish Monks
Shortly after Saint Patrick’s death, another Irish saint emerged: Saint Brendan, nicknamed “the Navigator” for his voyages to Scotland, Wales, and Brittany to spread Christianity. By the ninth century, a semi‑mythical, semi‑historical narrative of his expedition had become a medieval bestseller.
In The Voyage of Saint Brendan, a character named Saint Barinthus recounts that Brendan had just returned from “Paradise,” a land far beyond the western horizon. Determined to see it, Brendan gathered a crew, a leather‑bound Irish currach, and divine goodwill before setting sail. Their journey led them through a fantastical realm, including “hell,” where “great demons threw down lumps of fiery slag from an island with rivers of gold fire.”
Could these accounts hint at a stop in Iceland? If the Irish reached Iceland, they might have followed the Viking trail all the way to Newfoundland. To test feasibility, historian‑adventurer Tim Severin successfully recreated the voyage in 1976, sailing a leather‑bound currach from Ireland to the New World—proving that such a trek was indeed possible.
7 English Merchants
In 1475, the Hanseatic League—a medieval cod‑fish cartel—refused to sell cod to Bristol, a bustling English port. The English, lovers of fish, immediately began searching for an alternative source.
A wealthy customs official named Thomas Croft financed several fish‑finding expeditions led by merchant John Jay, whose mission was to locate a legendary, fog‑shrouded land west of Ireland called Hy‑Brasil. Official records state they never found it. Yet, shortly thereafter, Bristol began importing a suspiciously large volume of fish. Croft was arrested for illegal trading but later acquitted, leaving the question of the fish’s origin unanswered.
In 1956, a spy for the Spanish Inquisition left a letter in the Spanish National Archives stating, “It is considered certain that the cape of the said land was found and discovered in the past…by the men from Bristol who found ‘Brasil.’” If Bristol’s fishermen had indeed discovered the rich cod banks off Newfoundland, they would have kept it secret—until Columbus inadvertently revealed the bounty.
6 A Moorish Daredevil
Arab historian Abu al‑Hasan Ali Al‑Mas’udi (896‑956 AD) chronicled in his famed work The Golden Meadows that a Moor named Khoshkhash had sailed into the Atlantic. He wrote, “Nobody knew for a long time what had become of them; at length they returned with rich booty.” While the text omits the destination, Muslim scholars have speculated that Khoshkhash may have reached the Caribbean islands over six centuries before Columbus.
In the 1960s, a container of numerous Roman and two eighth‑century Arabic coins washed ashore off Venezuela. These coins, used in medieval Europe, have been cited as possible evidence of Khoshkhash’s voyage. However, scholars note the lack of clear information about the container—whether it was a ceramic amphora or a pickle jar—making definitive conclusions elusive.
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5 Two Venetian Brothers and a Norwegian Nobleman
In 1558, Nicolò Zeno published a bestselling collection of letters he claimed had been preserved in his family archives for generations. These letters came from his great‑great‑great‑grandfather Antonio Zeno and great‑great‑great‑uncle Nicolò Zeno, recounting adventures in the Arctic.
According to the narrative, in 1380 Nicolò Zeno set sail from Venice to Flanders. From there, he was shipwrecked on an island he called Frislanda and rescued by a prince named Zichmni, a conqueror of everything in sight. Nicolò wrote to his brother Antonio, and together they aided Zichmni in numerous battles against defenseless islanders. The documents also featured a map, a semi‑accurate depiction of northern Scotland, Iceland, and Greenland.
Modern theorists suggest that “Zichmni” is a grossly misspelled version of “d’Orkney,” referring to Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, and that the island names are similarly distorted versions of known North Atlantic islands.
It’s also been proposed that Henry Sinclair and the Zeno brothers sailed beyond Greenland, following the Viking route to Nova Scotia, over a century before Columbus. In 1998, the Prince Henry Sinclair Society of North America unveiled a monument at the alleged landing site in Canso, Nova Scotia, hoping to attract tourists.
4 A Roman Explorer
In 1933, a tiny terracotta statue head was uncovered at an archaeological site in Calixtlahuaca, Mexico. The face displayed beaded features and a distinctly non‑Mexican style, topped with a truncated cap. Classical archaeologist Ernest Boehringer examined the piece and declared it a second‑ or third‑century Roman artifact.
How did a Roman head end up at a site occupied from 1300 BC to 800 BC? One hypothesis suggests the head was placed there as a prank. Dr. John Paddack, who taught at the Universidad de las Américas, often joked that the head had been planted by a student named Hugo Moedano. Another possibility points to lax archaeological standards of the 1930s, leading to miscataloguing. Yet a third, more tantalizing theory posits that a Roman traveler somehow reached Mexico in pre‑Columbian times, leaving this enigmatic sculpture behind.
3 Chinese Treasure Ships
In the early 1400s, China held the title of the world’s pre‑eminent naval power. Its treasure ships, described as massive as the World War I‑era USS Minnesota, roamed the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the east coast of Africa. If the Chinese desired, they could have ventured across the Pacific.
Former submarine commander Gavin Mendes argues that a Chinese treasure fleet under Admiral Zheng He ventured farther than traditionally believed, exploring Australia, the Caribbean, and even establishing settlements in South America. His claim lacked solid proof until Chinese lawyer Liu Gang uncovered an old map in a Shanghai second‑hand bookshop depicting North and South America with surprising detail. The map bore a note claiming it was a 1763 copy of a 1418 original—aligning with Mendes’s proposed timeline.
The cartographic community largely dismisses the map as a forgery. China and Hong Kong’s bustling markets are replete with “ancient texts” sold on street corners, and the map contains numerous naming errors, including a modern Chinese spelling of “Mohammed.” While the evidence is shaky, the possibility of a trans‑Pacific Chinese expedition remains an intriguing, albeit unproven, notion.
2 A Mali Emperor
Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire, was so wealthy that his 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca involved such lavish generosity that gold prices worldwide plummeted. When asked about his predecessor, Abu Bakar II, Musa recounted, “The ruler who preceded me did not believe it impossible to reach the extremity of the ocean that encircles the earth (meaning the Atlantic), and wanted to reach that… never to return nor to give a sign of life.”
Malian scholar Gaoussou Diawara interprets Musa’s words as evidence that Abu Bakar II may have landed in Brazil, specifically the city of Recife—its alternative name, Purnanbuco, possibly a corruption of a Mande term for Mali’s famed goldfields. Diawara also cites chemical analyses indicating that gold found on American spears could trace back to Mali, as well as a report by Columbus noting encounters with black traders during his voyages.
Whether Abu Bakar II indeed made it to Brazil or perished in the Atlantic, his heir Mansa Musa went on to become the most celebrated emperor in Mali’s history, cementing the empire’s legacy.
1 Basque Whalers
In 1530, Basque whalers began operating in Newfoundland. By 1535, when Jacques de Cartier “discovered” the Saint Lawrence River, he reported encountering roughly 1,000 Basque fishing vessels already harvesting cod. This makes the Basques the first European group to settle the area after the Vikings.
The Basques inhabit the border region of France and Spain, boasting a distinct culture and a language—Euskera—that bears no relation to neighboring tongues. Their reticence to engage with outsiders is legendary. For centuries, Basque shipbuilders and sailors honed expert navigation and fishing techniques, becoming masters of the sea.
It remains unclear whether the Basques arrived precisely when Columbus returned to the Atlantic or enjoyed a head start—perhaps chasing whales across the ocean. Their extraordinary skill at preserving fish allowed for lengthy voyages, suggesting a pre‑Columbian Basque settlement could still lie undiscovered in Newfoundland.
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Why 10 peoples might have reached the New World
The phrase “10 peoples might” threads through each of these captivating stories, underscoring the tantalizing possibility that many cultures ventured across the ocean before Columbus’s famed expedition. From Polynesian navigators to Basque whalers, the evidence—archaeological, genetic, and documentary—invites us to rethink the conventional Eurocentric narrative of discovery.