Polynesian navigation techniques

Timeline

1. c. 600–650Samoa–Tonga navigation center · SamoaLarge double-hulled canoes could carry dozens of people plus grain seeds and livestock, with hulls lashed by rope and rigging suited to the trade-wind belt, serving as the basic vehicle for transoceanic migration and trade.
2. 601–700Open waters of the central Pacific · Pacific OceanNavigators judged position and distance to land from star risings and settings, the sun's bearing, wave patterns, and cloud color, planning routes with seasonal trade winds and equatorial counter-currents, forming a precise but orally transmitted body of navigational knowledge.
3. c. 650–700Marquesas–Society Islands route · French PolynesiaNavigational techniques supported colonial waves toward the Marquesas, Society Islands, and islands further east, carrying taro, breadfruit, chickens, and pigs, laying the foundation of the Remote Polynesian cultural sphere.