Humans Colonized Polynesia Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

Evidence from mud, charcoal, and feces suggests humans arrived in East Polynesia during the driest period in 2 millennia.



Large outrigger canoe silhouetted against an orange Hawaiian sky

Polynesians navigated the Pacific in large outrigger canoes like this one off the coast of Hawaii. Credit: iStock.com/JTSorrell
By Richard J. Sima 13 May 2020

The last great migration of humans to lands unknown occurred with the colonization of East Polynesia about a millennium ago. It’s not an easy feat finding tiny islands scattered in a body of water that can engulf all seven continents with room to spare.
“In terms of the scale, risk, and magnitude of the exploration, it’s one of humanity’s momentous achievements,” said Barry Rolett, an anthropologist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

But the details of this accomplishment—and what drove it—have been shrouded in mystery.

Now, a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America reports that humans arrived in East Polynesia 200 to 300 years earlier than previously thought.

Their arrival in East Polynesia—a culturally and linguistically distinct region spanning from the Cook Islands to Rapa Nui and Hawaii—coincides with a time of prolonged drought in their West Polynesia islands of origin in Tonga and Samoa, which may have helped spur the dangerous excursions eastward.

More:
https://eos.org/articles/humans-colonized-polynesia-much-earlier-than-previously-thought?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=humans-colonized-polynesia-much-earlier-than-previously-thought