Carl L. Johannessen, Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon, has authored several papers on New World plants such as maize and sunflowers that appear to have been in Asia before Columbus, suggestive of ancient transoceanic contact between the Old World and the New World. Interesting stuff - and widely ignored. Sunflowers, by the way, have been in the news recently because of new evidence about their early use in Mesoamerica, not just in the northern parts of the New World.

Not directly relevant to the Book of Mormon, but there are several interesting points of tangential interest. Plants provide some of the most interesting evidence for ancient transoceanic contact between the Americas and the Old World.

Another interesting post on corn and ancient India is Maize and Sunflowers in India.
Continue reading at the original source →