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pfdietzlast Sunday at 7:02 PM2 repliesview on HN

Have you read Charles C. Mann's book "1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created"? It's all about the global impact of the opening of the New World by the Europeans, and how the global exchange created and is creating the "homogenocene", the age of homogeneity. There's a part about a folk song in the Philippines that lovingly goes over the crops being grown around a village. They're all introduced.


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culilast Sunday at 9:34 PM

It really transformed Europe too. Europe's basically a story of famine after famine until they got access to the potato. I don't know if any other technology has saved as many European lives as the potato

Pacific island cultures are a bit unique in their relationship to the New World though. Chickens which come from SE Asian jungles have been in South America since at least 1300 AD. And sweet potatoes were grown in Polynesia around 1000 AD.

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20after4yesterday at 5:04 AM

His other book, "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus"¹ is also excellent.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491:_New_Revelations_of_the_A...