Is it possible the Ancient Celts made it to New Zealand?

www.kilts.co.nz...

www.kilts.co.nz...

Im skeptical but just perhaps it might be true

I find it hard to believe that the celts would have had interest in travelling to NZ. Did they have any naval skills?

One place I've shown people several times before is
www.celticnz.co.nz...
They have quite a good ammount of very plausable info on there that
really makes one think.
Have fun reading all the info

How interesting!!!

First off to Merka ..... 1000 plus years ago the Vikings brought there sea-fareing skills to Scotland, Orkneys, Shetland ect.

If you read up on a chap called Summerled, who was from the Western Isles of Scotland you'll find he had his own little empire and FLEET of 300 ships which were slightly shorter versions of Norse 'long ships'

Now as for Celts in NZ ...... !!!!

Many years ago a Spanish Helmet was fished from Wellington Harbour. hmmm ? ...... who knows

There are 'dry stone' walls found around the central North Island and Corromandle.

At least "Two" ship wrecks of Sri Lankan (?) origin found in the dunes in Northland

Ever hear reports of a small coloney of SEA OTTERS???? found in Northland?
Now where did they come from????

How many Maori have you met with red hair? I know quite a few. However this could be written off because of recent European immagrants.

Ever noticed the distint difference between many tribal groups? There is definately an Asian, Tamil/Indian link in the North. Theres a real South American Indian look to the people in the South Island (Ngi Tahu) And a red haired influence as well!!!! And some of them are BIG!!

So yeah ..... why not. Ive heard many stories growing up that have never added up. There are things that exist there ...... that should'nt

Heres my question ..... If the kumera (sweet potatoe) was brought to NZ by the Polynesian voyagers ..... from POLYNESIA ...... then how come the variety now in NZ ..... comes from PERU???

You raise some good points...
I wonder how many of us Kiwi's are actually on this site?
There have recently been found some Otters in the St Clair Wetlands down in Dunedin here also.
As for the Maori, I don't know ANY with even slightly redish hair ( not taking in to account those with dyed hair of course), and I think i disagree with your Ngi Tahu looking red Indians, it's not something I think "I" see in them
As for the Kumera, It has been known for many years that our variety comes from Sth America, it has also been of large speculation that they got here by adventurers also.. MAYBE LOST Latin American's? (MAYBE The Maori are the lost Maya?).. Thor Heyerdahl proved this possible with his Kon-Tiki Raft expedition/experiment from Sth America across the pacific.
Also worth noting is the fact that people are often aware that both the ancient egyptians and greeks had ENORMOUS trade vessels very much capable of long sea journeys, so I really cannot see why people find it hard to swallow that other civilizations got this far... it is completly plausable.

I agree that theres good reason to be skeptical of the claims.

The 1200-ish arrival date is SO recent that there would be good and strong evidence of these people, including metal artifacts and plants and animals from northern Europe. There are no stories native to New Zealand about the arrival of these people and there are no blended myths from that area (showing an impact of Christianity from that time) -- which would have been the case if Europeans showed up.

The otters could be recent imports. Otters aren't easy to tame and take on long voyages.

Polynesians and American Indians come from the same original group, but that was 50,000 years ago or more.

The "celts in New Zealand" group seem to be stretching a lot of coincidences to make an idea they like.


(and I looked at the www.celticnz.co.nz... site, and they really ARE stretching things to make them match.)

[edit on 6-11-2005 by Byrd]

I think it’s possible but not very likely.

The kind of ships they used were not good enough for ocean travel, because they were limited by the kind of sails they used, they only had square sails.

I find it more likely that this may be some other people who have since disappeared, that must have happened many times trough human existence.

Originally posted by Barak
You raise some good points...
I wonder how many of us Kiwi's are actually on this site?

There have recently been found some Otters in the St Clair Wetlands down in Dunedin here also.
As for the Maori, I don't know ANY with even slightly redish hair ( not taking in to account those with dyed hair of course), and I think i disagree with your Ngi Tahu looking red Indians, it's not something I think "I" see in them

I'm a kiwi

We had a Maori guy in my year at high school who had the biggest orange afro i've ever seen.

Hmmmmm ...... otters in Dunners?? I just remeber hearing about the ones in Northland. I live in US these days ...... we have a family of otters over at the local lake. There fantastic to watch .....

Used to have three ?? families of Maori in my area with red hair and Ive met several around the contry since.

Good to see kiwis here on this site

Oh .... I forgot to add ...... I was meaning Peruvian / Bolivian type peoples coming to NZ via Easter Island route. They look strickingly like Maori. I wasn't thinking so much about North American "Indians" although, if you go into depth with some of there legends and oral traditions, there certainly could be links to the past.

But saying this ..... many cultures share long ago traditions, myths and legends or at least there are similarities. This could come from people flowing across the globe over several thousand years.

There was a Welshman who "discovered" America before that Spanish/Portuges dude. So we know that the Welsh and Scottish and Vikings were in America early on.

But to then travel across America and on to NZ is hard to believe.

A Welshman???? !!!! Hmm, I wonder what he was thinking? Glad he didnt get to New Zealand ..... mind you, sheep were not introduced till the mid 1800's so whatever his intent was, even if he did get here, it would'nt have mattered anyway.

Hi everyone

I have joined ATS so I could add to this thread and confirm that ancient celts made it to NZ.

I live in the central NZ area - Marlborugh, or Top-of-the-South to kiwis. I was born and raised in Picton - a small port town at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sounds - being part of the Marlborough Sounds. There was a local well known identity known for his basic, but daring approach to diving - specifically paua/abolone. He would dive where others dared not - hence my post .....

One of this mans many stories of his diving experiences was about a "viking ship" he found and gathered golden medalions from. He talked about other items he saw - helmets, sheilds, etc. He never told anyone where it was ... of course. He had shown the medalions he removed from the sunken ship to others who verify his story. Sadly he died in a motor vehicle accident in his prime ... never disclosing the whereabouts of the "viking" ship. So, all the locals of Picton who new the diver believe there to be an ancient vessel out there somewhere in the Marlborough Sounds.

Also, there are many references in local Maori legends to 'giant hairy (red)people' who lived across the water in the Wellington area and came over occasionally to steal women from the Maori villages - some of the women escaped and returned home with children and told the story. Some folk liken the red-headed Maori as a legacy of these hairy giants ...

The stories go that local Maori were very objectional, yet cautious about these 'giants' - wanting them gone ... Parties were formed to rid the land of the giants. Outcome: no hairy giants in the Wellington region, yet there are a number of red headed Maori I know in this area.

My husband is Maori/Spanish with a little Welsh in there as well ... he has the odd red hair in his moustache .. mmmm.

Anyway ... I am a believer that the ancient celts did indeed make it to New Zealand ... no smoke without fire and there's always been a bit of smoke about this topic.

I might be able to help a little here. I just did a research paper on the history and roots of terrorism in Northern Ireland, and in my research I found it goes back to the the 5th century and the Anglo-Saxons had driven tham out of England. Later on the Normans came and pushed into these territories and ended up being absorbed into the culture and population. Read this article, bit long but you wont have to read much to get the info I have just told you.

www.globalsecurity.org...

[edit on 11/15/2005 by ludaChris]

I think its very possible, they are similar looking/races.
If NZers were spanish it would see more far fetched....