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Polynesia is a group of islands spread over a large area, but only a few 100 Km apart from each other at most. Why is it so unthinkable that the native populati
by lazyjones 8y ago
Polynesia is a group of islands spread over a large area, but only a few 100 Km apart from each other at most. Why is it so unthinkable that the native population spread slowly from Indonesia, Australia or New Guinea by exploring nearby islands and settling there?
- EdwardDiego 8y agoNew Zealand/Aotearoa was settled by people from the Marquesas Islands, as was Hawaii. Hawaii is "1313 miles from Midway Island, 1337 miles to Christmas Island, and 2395 miles from San Francisco." to quote Quora. The closest useful island to New Zealand is the Raoul Island in the Kermadecs (which was settled by Polynesians from New Zealand). I encourage you to look at Google Maps and understand the scale of the Pacific. https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Marquesas+Islands,+French+Polynesia/@-32.8456465,-176.9597958,5.23z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x7635e66a3a79a46d:0x16a7af39097eb98e!8m2!3d-9.7812162!4d-139.0817124?hl=en https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Marquesas+Islands,+Frenc...
- lazyjones 8y ago> Hawaii is 1313 miles from Midway Island Close-up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papahānaumokuākea_Marine_National_Monument#/media/File:Map_PMNM_2016.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papahānaumokuākea_Marine_Natio... Clearly easy to navigate due to many small islands / reefs. > The closest useful island to New Zealand is the Raoul Island in the Kermadecs (which was settled by Polynesians from New Zealand). 980 Km distance or so, less than e.g. Iceland from the rest of Europe. Where is the mystery? What I'd like to know is how these atolls and islands looked a few 1000 years ago, with lower sea levels (what is the rough estimate, 3 meters per millennium?).
- caymanjim 8y agoMost of the small south Pacific islands were first settled in the past 1000-2000 years, and even some major ones like Hawaii and New Zealand. Sea levels haven't changed much at all in the past 3000 years. Certainly nothing approaching even one meter over that time.
- EdwardDiego 8y ago...That's not at all in the direction of the Marquesas. Look south.
- vorg 8y agoThe Aborigines of Australia migrated separately from the Austronesian people who colonized Indonesia, coastal New Guinea, the Philippines, Madagascar, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
- lazyjones 8y agoDoes this map reflect current research? https://images.theconversation.com/files/107932/original/image-20160112-6977-19qvr80.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip https://images.theconversation.com/files/107932/original/ima...
- vorg 8y agoI can't tell what article this map is associated with. But it appears to be a summary of when various places on earth were first settled by each homo. Australia was first settled by the Aborigines about 50k years ago, entering via Southeast Asia. Much later, New Zealand was first settled by the Maori 800 years ago, entering via Taiwan, Southeast Asia (after the Aborigines' ancestors), and the Pacific Islands, though these migrations aren't shown on this very simple map.
- Taniwha 8y agoThe current DNA evidence points to the aboriginal people of Taiwan as being the likely source of the original polynesians, likely they spread across the northern Pacific, as far as the Americas, then back again to New Zealand arriving around 900AD (the last major inhabitable place on earth to be discovered by humans)
- abfar 8y agoThe first settlers of Madagascar are also Austronesians, came from Borneo between 350 BC and 550 AD [1]. If you look at a world map you can see just how far those two islands are. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar
- BurningFrog 8y agoThat Madagascar remained unsettled for so long is the most puzzling of all. It's not that far off from Africa, where humanity came from.
- mmsimanga 8y agoSpeaking for myself as an African. We can run and jump but swimming is not our forte.
- patrickg_zill 8y agoThe out of Africa theory has been overblown by the media. There are many other bits of evidence that point to other origins...
- chewz 8y agoIf you read Wikipedia article > The first archaeological evidence for human foraging on Madagascar may have occurred as much as 10,000 years ago.[10] Human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BC and 550 AD by Austronesian peoples, arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo People lived in Madagascar 10 0000 years before arrival of proto-Malays.
- DrScump 8y agoRecommended resource on the use of DNA to track migration patterns out of Africa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journey_of_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journey_of_Man