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c. 1280: Humans first settled New Zealand, according to evidence from the earliest archaeological sites. [5]c. 1300: Most likely period of ongoing early settlement of New Zealand by Polynesian people (the Archaic Moa-Hunter Culture).
The human history of New Zealand can be dated back to between 1320 and 1350 CE, when the main settlement period started, after it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture.
Additional DNA analysis has taken research into new directions, as more human species have been discovered since the late 20th century. Based on his genetic studies of the Denisova hominin , an ancient human species discovered in 2010, Svante Pääbo claims that ancient human ancestors of the Melanesians interbred in Asia with these humans.
The History of New Zealand dates back to at least 700 years to when it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture centred on kinship links and land. The first European explorer, the Dutch Abel Tasman, came to New Zealand in 1642. From the late 18th century, the country was regularly visited by explorers ...
Kupe was a legendary [1] Polynesian explorer who, according to Māori oral history, was the first person to discover New Zealand. [2] He is generally held to have been born to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea , and probably spoke a Māori proto-language similar to Cook Islands Māori or Tahitian .
The exclusively natural history of the country ended in about 1300 AD, when humans first settled, and the country's environmental history began. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The period from 1300 AD to today coincides with the extinction of many of New Zealand's unique species that had evolved there.
Any reference to New Zealand in a legal rather than geographic sense before 1840 is complex and unclear. When the British colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 it nominally included a claim to New Zealand as far as 43°39'S (approximately halfway down the South Island). In the years before 1800 there was little interest shown by ...
The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised, and names and alternative names were formalised in 2013. This set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui , and South Island or Te Waipounamu . [ 26 ]