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Polynesian Pacific Expansion

Type Event Region Oceania Time 901–1000

In the 10th century, Polynesian navigators continued expanding into the deep Pacific, using star navigation, current knowledge, and outrigger canoe t…

Timeline

  1. 900–950Hawaiian Islands · HawaiiPolynesian navigators crossed thousands of kilometers to reach and settle the Hawaiian Islands, introducing crops and livestock such as taro, bananas, pigs, and chickens. Hawaii became the northernmost Polynesian settlement in the Pacific, and its distinctive island environment gave rise to the later independent Hawaiian civilization.
  2. 920–1000New Zealand · New ZealandPolynesian navigators reached New Zealand (known to the Māori as Aotearoa), the major southernmost settlement event in the Pacific. Migrants brought Austronesian languages, agricultural techniques, and seafaring knowledge, developing a distinctive Māori culture and social organization in the new environment.
  3. 900–1000Easter Island · Easter IslandPolynesians settled Easter Island (Rapa Nui), one of the easternmost outposts of human expansion into the Pacific. The island's isolation led the Rapa Nui people to develop a distinctive moai-statue culture and resource-management society, marking the geographic limit of Polynesian expansion.

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