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They were the first humans to cross vast distances of water on ocean-going boats. [18] Despite the popularity of rejected hypotheses, such as Thor Heyerdahl 's belief that Polynesians are descendants of "bearded white men" who sailed on primitive rafts from South America , [ 19 ] [ 20 ] Polynesians are believed to have originated from a branch ...
The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. From about the 11th century Polynesians also arrived and mixed with the populations of the archipelago. Europeans first sighted New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands in the late 18th century.
The history of Hawaii began with the discovery and settlement of the Hawaiian Islands by Polynesian people between 940 and 1200 AD. [1] [2]The first recorded and sustained contact with Europeans occurred by chance when British explorer James Cook sighted the islands in January 1778 during his third voyage of exploration.
The large islands of New Zealand were first settled by Eastern Polynesians who adapted their culture to a non-tropical environment. Unlike western Melanesia, leaders were chosen in Polynesia based on their hereditary bloodline. Samoa, however, had another system of government that combines elements of heredity and real-world skills to choose ...
Estuaries and streams were adapted into fishponds by early Polynesian settlers, as long ago as 500 CE or earlier. [20] Packed earth and cut stone were used to create habitat, making ancient Hawaiian aquaculture among the most advanced of the original peoples of the Pacific. [21]
According to this study, now called into question, [26] "the ancestors of the Polynesians were originally from Asia / Taiwan, but they did not cross Melanesia quickly; rather, they mixed extensively with the Melanesians, leaving behind their genes [in the Melanesians], and incorporating many Melanesian genes before colonizing the Pacific". [27]
Boulders that were originally on a hill in Silverdale, Auckland, have been argued by Martin Doutré in a self-published 1999 book to be artefacts left by a pre-Polynesian Celtic population, who according to the theory came to be known as the patupaiarehe, and used the boulders as part of a system spanning around the area, used for calendar ...
The first-recorded European contact with the island took place on 5 April (Easter Sunday) 1722 when Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen [21] visited for a week and estimated there were 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants on the island. His party reported "remarkable, tall, stone figures, a good 30 feet in height", the island had rich soil and a good climate ...