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As an addition to the above - New Zealand was the last major place in the world to be settled by humans, in around 900AD, by Polynesians who had left Taiwan (ac
by Taniwha 7y ago
As an addition to the above - New Zealand was the last major place in the world to be settled by humans, in around 900AD, by Polynesians who had left Taiwan (according to recent DNA evidence), traveled across the Northern Pacific, likely reached the Americas (there's some archaeological evidence though controversial) and back across the Southern Pacific to NZ - they had maps and could repeat their journeys
- madhadron 7y agoFrom my reading on this subject, the sweet potato is what enabled the settling of New Zealand. It came from South America, and one of the stable trade routes in eastern Polynesia did run along South America. "Pathway of the Birds" is the best reference available today on all this.
- captaincrowbar 7y ago900 AD is the date that was taught in NZ schools for most of the 20th century, but these days it's considered much too early. Studies from various sources - archaeology, genetics, and careful analysis of Maori oral tradition - are largely in agreement now that the first Polynesian settlers arrived around 1250 AD, give or take a few decades.