The Ancient World - Polynesians

Historians believe that Pacific Islanders explored the entire South Pacific region well before the era of recorded history. Around 2500 B.C., historians speculate, Southeast Asians began to migrate throughout the Pacific. By the eighth century A.D., the Polynesians had crossed 15 million miles of unknown ocean and colonized every habitable island in a huge triangle bound by Hawaii on the north, New Zealand in the southwest, and Easter Island to the east. Sturdy outrigger canoes could have been used to bring large numbers of people and trading items across rough seas from island to island.

These 100-foot-long, 10-ton canoes were navigated by men who were taught from childhood to decipher nautical information from star positions, ocean currents, wave echoes, prevailing winds, and the habits of migratory birds. It has been said that the Polynesian navigators were so well trained that they could smell land and see the green reflection of forests on the underside of clouds.

See a map showing the Polynesian Voyages.

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