Editing Columbian exchange (section)

== Background ==

The scientific consensus is that humans first came to the New World from [[Siberia]] thousands of years ago. There is little additional evidence of contacts between the peoples of the Old World and those of the New World, although the literature speculating on pre-Columbian trans-oceanic journeys is extensive. The first inhabitants of the New World brought with them small domestic dogs and, possibly, a container, the [[calabash]], both of which persisted in their new home.<ref name="Erickson et al">{{cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.0509279102 |pmid=16352716 |pmc=1311910 |title=An Asian origin for a 10,000-year-old domesticated plant in the Americas |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=102 |issue=51 |pages=18315–20 |year=2005 |last1=Erickson |first1=D. L. |last2=Smith |first2=B. D. |last3=Clarke |first3=A. C. |last4=Sandweiss |first4=D. H. |last5=Tuross |first5=N. |bibcode=2005PNAS..10218315E |doi-access=free }}</ref>  The [[Norse colonization of North America|medieval explorations, visits, and brief residence]] of the [[Norsemen]] in [[Greenland]], [[Newfoundland]], and [[Vinland]] in the late 10th century and 11th century had no known impact on the Americas,<ref name="Heritage">{{cite web |title=The Norse in the North Atlantic |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/exploration/norse-north-atlantic.php |website=Heritage: Newfoundland & Labrador |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> though the small perennial ''[[Rumex acetosella]]'' (sheep's sorrel) appeared in Greenland at that time.<ref name="k463">{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Kevin J. |last2=Erlendsson |first2=Egill |last3=Schofield |first3=J. Edward |title=Biogeography in the Sub‐Arctic |chapter=Landnám and the North Atlantic Flora |publisher=Wiley |date=20 April 2021 |isbn=978-1-118-56147-8 |doi=10.1002/9781118561461.ch9 |pages=185–214}}</ref>

Many scientists accept that possible contact between [[Polynesians]] and coastal peoples in South America around the year 1200 resulted in genetic similarities and the adoption by Polynesians of an American crop, the [[sweet potato]].<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news |last=Dunham |first=Will |title=Study shows ancient contact between Polynesian and South American peoples |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-polynesia/study-shows-ancient-contact-between-polynesian-and-south-american-peoples-idUSKBN2492EU |website=Reuters |date=July 8, 2020 |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> However, it was only with the first voyage of the Italian explorer [[Christopher Columbus]] and his crew to the Americas in [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus#First voyage|1492]] that the Columbian exchange began, resulting in major transformations in the cultures and livelihoods of the peoples in both hemispheres.<ref name="McNeill 2019">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=McNeill |first1=J. R. |author1-link=J. R. McNeill |last2=Sampaolo |first2=Marco |last3=Wallenfeldt |first3=Jeff |date=30 September 2019 |origyear=28 September 2019 |title=Columbian Exchange |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Columbian-exchange |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |location=[[Edinburgh]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421055242/https://www.britannica.com/event/Columbian-exchange |archive-date=21 April 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=5 September 2021}}</ref>