Polynesian Outrigger Canoe

Timeline

1. c. 300–600Waters on the Melanesia–Polynesia boundary · MelanesiaLapita people carried livestock and crops eastward in outrigger canoes. Hulls were made from hollowed tree trunks or assembled planks, with outrigger booms connecting the float, laying the technical foundations of the Polynesian seafaring tradition.
2. 701Central islands of the Polynesian Triangle · PolynesiaDuring this period, Polynesian navigators steered large outrigger sailing canoes by the stars, ocean currents, and bird observation, completing staged settlement expansion to distant lands east of the Society Islands and north of Hawaii. Fleets could carry dozens of people along with food and seeds.
3. 1976Honolulu, Hawaii · HawaiiIn the late twentieth century, Hawaii and other places rebuilt the traditional double-hulled sailing canoe Hōkūleʻa and completed ocean voyages without modern navigational instruments, spurring the contemporary revival and preservation of outrigger canoe construction and star-navigation knowledge.