Inger E Johansson wrote:

Martin H,
if you have Viking blood in you is irrelevant to the fact that the valuble
coconut bowl only was one of two known coming from the New World in Pre
Columbian days.
Or do you believe your proven(?) Viking genes make a difference on that
fact?

Inger E


Inger,

From references presented here, it appears that there were many
bowls made around coconut shells in Europe around that time.
One site even said that they were common enough that some were
owned by commoners; but that they were often given as gifts, and
gave the owner (and of course the giver) some status.

Given this, why could the bowl(s) not have been brought to
Greenland from who owned such bowls? Or why could the bowl(s)
not have been given as a gift to someone (perhaps a clergy
member or settlement leader) from someone in Europe?

Importation of such bowls from Europe needs to be ruled out
before your view of a North American or Caribbean provenance for
the coconut can be accepted. What evidence do you have that
this has been considered and rejected?

Tom McDonald