Polynesian Expansion (7th century)

Name: Polynesian Expansion (7th century)
Start: 600
End: 700

Type Event Region Pacific Ocean Time 600–700

Between 600 and 700 CE, Austronesian Polynesians continued expanding into the eastern Pacific using outrigger canoes, star navigation, and monsoon-cu…

Timeline

600–650Tongatapu Island · TongaLarger villages, cemeteries, and ceremonial structures appeared in the Tonga and Samoa island groups; a stable agricultural economy supported population growth, and seafaring technology and social organization provided manpower and knowledge reserves for subsequent long-distance migrations.
650–700Eastern Polynesian frontier · PolynesiaPolynesian navigators used seasonal winds and currents to continue exploring eastward, establishing the first settlements on more remote Pacific islands, spreading Austronesian languages, agricultural techniques, and pottery traditions, and launching the farthest-ranging maritime colonization process in human history.

Sources

On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact — Patrick Vinton Kirch (2017)
The Lapita Peoples: Ancestors of the Oceanic World — Patrick Vinton Kirch (1997)