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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.
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 .
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 oldest human skeletal remains are the 40ky old Lake Mungo remains in New South Wales, but human ornaments discovered at Devil's Lair in Western Australia have been dated to 48 kya and artifacts at Madjedbebe in Northern Territory are dated to at least 50 kya, and to 62.1 ± 2.9 ka in one 2017 study. [26] [27] [28] [29]
In New Zealand, it is illegal to disturb or destroy an archaeological site, and can result in substantial fines and a criminal conviction. [57] Heritage New Zealand investigated how Hilliam had obtained the skulls and whether he had sent human remains out of New Zealand, but found no evidence beyond his claims to have done so. [58]
Academically New Zealand's human prehistory is broadly divided into the periods of Archaic (~paleolithic then ~mesolithic after c. 1300 AD) and Classic after c. 1500 AD, based on Māori culture. Eurasian labels do not perfectly fit as some level of horticulture was always present in northern New Zealand, even existing at the same time as ...
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 ...
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.