Editing History of Oceania (section)

== Prehistory ==
The [[prehistory]] of Oceania is divided into the prehistory of each of its major areas: [[Prehistory of Australia|Australia]], [[Melanesia#History|Melanesia]], [[Micronesia#Prehistory|Micronesia]], and [[Polynesia#Origins and expansion|Polynesia]], and these vary greatly as to when they were first inhabited by humans — from 70,000 years ago ([[Near Oceania]]) to 3,000 years ago ([[Remote Oceania]]).

=== Australia ===
{{Further|Aboriginal Australians}}

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the [[Australia (continent)|Australian continent]] and nearby islands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country |title=About Australia:Our Country |publisher=Australian Government |quote=Australia's first inhabitants, the Aboriginal people, are believed to have migrated from some unknown point in Asia to Australia between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. |access-date=27 January 2014 |archive-date=27 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227080043/http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country |url-status=dead }}</ref> Indigenous Australians migrated from Africa to Asia around 70,000 years ago<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1126/science.1211177|pmid = 21940856|pmc = 3991479|title = An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia|journal = Science|volume = 334|issue = 6052|pages = 94–98|year = 2011|last1 = Rasmussen|first1 = M.|last2 = Guo|first2 = X.|last3 = Wang|first3 = Y.|last4 = Lohmueller|first4 = K. E.|last5 = Rasmussen|first5 = S.|last6 = Albrechtsen|first6 = A.|last7 = Skotte|first7 = L.|last8 = Lindgreen|first8 = S.|last9 = Metspalu|first9 = M.|last10 = Jombart|first10 = T.|last11 = Kivisild|first11 = T.|last12 = Zhai|first12 = W.|last13 = Eriksson|first13 = A.|last14 = Manica|first14 = A.|last15 = Orlando|first15 = L.|last16 = de la Vega|first16 = F. M.|last17 = Tridico|first17 = S.|last18 = Metspalu|first18 = E.|last19 = Nielsen|first19 = K.|last20 = Avila-Arcos|first20 = M. C.|last21 = Moreno-Mayar|first21 = J. V.|last22 = Muller|first22 = C.|last23 = Dortch|first23 = J.|last24 = Gilbert|first24 = M. T. P.|last25 = Lund|first25 = O.|last26 = Wesolowska|first26 = A.|last27 = Karmin|first27 = M.|last28 = Weinert|first28 = L. A.|last29 = Wang|first29 = B.|last30 = Li|first30 = J.|display-authors = 29|bibcode = 2011Sci...334...94R}}</ref> and arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago.<ref name="BBSRC">[http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_23-9-2011-10-41-8 "Aboriginal Australians descend from the first humans to leave Africa, DNA sequence reveals"], ''Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)''.</ref><ref name="illumina.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.illumina.com/documents/icommunity/article_2012_04_Aboriginal_Genome.pdf |title=Sequencing Uncovers a 9,000 Mile Walkabout |publisher=Illumina |date=2012 |access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref> The [[Torres Strait Islanders]] are indigenous to the [[Torres Strait Islands]], which are at the northernmost tip of Queensland near [[Papua New Guinea]]. The term "Aboriginal" is traditionally applied to only the [[Aboriginal Australians|indigenous inhabitants]] of [[mainland Australia]] and [[Tasmania]], along with some of the adjacent islands, i.e.: the "first peoples". ''Indigenous Australians'' is an inclusive term used when referring to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders.

The earliest definite human remains found to date are that of [[Mungo Man]], which have been dated at about 40,000 years old, but the time of arrival of the ancestors of Indigenous Australians is a matter of debate among researchers, with estimates dating back as far as 125,000 years ago.<ref name="uow2004">[http://media.uow.edu.au/news/2004/0917a/index.html "When did Australia's earliest inhabitants arrive?"], ''University of Wollongong'', 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2008.</ref> There is great diversity among different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia, each with its own unique mixture of cultures, customs and languages. In present-day Australia these groups are further divided into local communities.<ref>[http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/3.2/Hodge.html "Aboriginal truth and white media: Eric Michaels meets the spirit of Aboriginalism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721132745/http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/3.2/Hodge.html |date=21 July 2012 }}, ''The Australian Journal of Media & Culture'', vol. 3 no 3, 1990. Retrieved 6 June 2008.</ref>

=== Melanesia ===
{{Further|Melanesians}}

The first settlers of Australia, New Guinea, and the large islands just to the east arrived between 50,000 and 30,000 years ago, when [[Neanderthal]]s still roamed Europe.<ref name="genome" /> The original inhabitants of the group of islands now named Melanesia were likely the ancestors of the present-day [[Papuan languages|Papuan]]-speaking people. Migrating from Southeast Asia, they appear to have occupied these islands as far east as the main islands in the [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)]], including [[Makira]] and possibly the smaller islands farther to the east.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Dunn, Michael |author2=Angela Terrill |author3=Ger Reesink |author4=Robert A. Foley |author5=Stephen C. Levinson | year=2005| title=Structural Phylogenetics and the Reconstruction of Ancient Language History| journal=Science| volume=309| pages=2072–75| doi=10.1126/science.1114615| pmid=16179483| issue=5743 | bibcode=2005Sci...309.2072D|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1B84-E |s2cid=2963726 | hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Particularly along the north coast of New Guinea and in the islands north and east of New Guinea, the [[Austronesian peoples]], who had migrated into the area somewhat more than 3,000 years ago,<ref name="genome" /> came into contact with these pre-existing populations of Papuan-speaking peoples. In the late 20th century, some academics proposed a long period of interaction that led to numerous complex changes in the peoples' genetics, languages, and cultures.<ref>{{cite book| author=Spriggs, Matthew|year=1997|title=The Island Melanesians|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=0-631-16727-7}}</ref> Kayser, et al. proposed that, from this area, a very small group of people (speaking an Austronesian language) departed to the east to become the forebears of the [[Polynesians|Polynesian people]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kayser, Manfred |author2=Silke Brauer |author3=Gunter Weiss |author4=Peter A. Underhill |author5=Lutz Rower |author6=Wulf Schiefenhövel |author7=Mark Stoneking | year=2000 | title=The Melanesian Origin of Polynesian Y chromosomes| journal=Current Biology |volume=10|pages=1237–46 |doi=10.1016/S0960-9822(00)00734-X | pmid=11069104 | issue=20 |s2cid=744958 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Vanuatu blonde.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Boy from [[Vanuatu]]]]

However, the theory is contradicted by the findings of a [[Genetics|genetic study]] published by [[Temple University]] in 2008; based on genome scans and evaluation of more than 800 genetic markers among a wide variety of Pacific peoples, it found that neither Polynesians nor Micronesians have much genetic relation to Melanesians. Both groups are strongly related genetically to East Asians, particularly [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|Taiwanese aborigines]].<ref name="genome" /> It appeared that, having developed their sailing outrigger canoes, the Polynesian ancestors migrated from East Asia, moved through the Melanesian area quickly on their way, and kept going to eastern areas, where they settled. They left little genetic evidence in Melanesia.<ref name="genome" />

The study found a high rate of genetic differentiation and diversity among the groups living within the Melanesian islands, with the peoples distinguished by island, language, topography, and geography among the islands. Such diversity developed over their tens of thousands of years of settlement before the Polynesian ancestors ever arrived at the islands. For instance, populations developed differently in coastal areas, as opposed to those in more isolated mountainous valleys.<ref name="genome">[https://web.archive.org/web/20081211111824/http://www.temple.edu/ATTIC/newsroom/2007_2008/01/stories/pacificislander.htm "Genome Scans Show Polynesians Have Little Genetic Relationship to Melanesians"], Press Release, Temple University, 18 January 2008, accessed 9 March 2013</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Friedlaender|first=Jonathan|title=The Genetic Structure of Pacific Islanders|journal=PLOS Genet|pages=e19|date=18 January 2008|doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0040019|name-list-style=vanc|author2=Friedlaender JS|author3=Friedlaender FR|author4=Reed FA|author5=Kidd KK|author6=Kidd JR|display-authors=5|pmid=18208337|pmc=2211537|volume=4|issue=1 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Additional DNA analysis has taken research into new directions, as more human species have been discovered since the late 20th century. Based on his genetic studies of the [[Denisova hominin]], an ancient human species discovered in 2010, [[Svante Pääbo]] claims that ancient human ancestors of the [[Melanesians]] interbred in Asia with these humans. He has found that people of New Guinea share 4–6% of their genome with the Denisovans, indicating this exchange.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |title=Denisovans Were Neanderthals' Cousins, DNA Analysis Reveals |author=Carl Zimmer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/science/23ancestor.html?hp |newspaper=NYTimes.com |date=22 December 2010 |access-date=22 December 2010|author-link=Carl Zimmer }}</ref> The Denisovans are considered cousin to the Neanderthals; both groups are now understood to have migrated out of Africa, with the Neanderthals going into Europe, and the Denisovans heading east about 400,000 years ago. This is based on genetic evidence from a fossil found in [[Siberia]]. The evidence from Melanesia suggests their territory extended into south Asia, where ancestors of the Melanesians developed.<ref name=nytimes />

Melanesians of some islands are one of the few non-European peoples, and the only dark-skinned group of people outside Australia, known to have blond hair.

=== Micronesia ===
{{Further|Micronesians|Nan Madol|Saudeleur dynasty}}
{{See also|History of the Federated States of Micronesia}}

Micronesia began to be settled several millennia ago, although there are competing theories about the origin and arrival of the first settlers.{{sfn|Kirch|2001|p=167}} There are numerous difficulties with conducting archaeological excavations in the islands, due to their size, settlement patterns and storm damage. As a result, much evidence is based on linguistic analysis.{{sfn|Lal|Fortune|2000|p=62}} The earliest archaeological traces of civilization have been found on the island of [[Saipan]], dated to 1500 BCE or slightly before.{{sfn|Kirch|2001|p=170}}

The ancestors of the [[Micronesians]] settled there over 4,000 years ago. A decentralized chieftain-based system eventually evolved into a more centralized economic and religious culture centered on [[Yap]] and [[Pohnpei]].<ref name=USDOS>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1839.htm |publisher=United States Department of State |title=Background Note: Micronesia |access-date=6 January 2012}}</ref> The prehistory of many Micronesian islands such as Yap are not known very well.<ref name="books.google">{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=William N.|title=Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3Z-aH7govUC&q=%22micronesia%22|isbn=978-0-292-78621-9|year=1988|publisher=University of Texas Press }}</ref>

[[File:Map FM-Nan Madol.PNG|thumb|right|Central [[Nan Madol]]]]
[[File:Nan Madol 5.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nan Madol]], capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty]]

On [[Pohnpei]], pre-colonial history is divided into three eras: ''Mwehin Kawa'' or ''Mwehin Aramas'' (Period of Building, or Period of Peopling, before c. 1100); ''Mwehin Sau Deleur'' (Period of the [[Saudeleur|Lord of Deleur]], c. 1100<ref name=Flood>{{cite book|title=Micronesian Legends |first1=Bo |last1=Flood |first2=Beret E. |last2=Strong |first3=William |last3=Flood |publisher=Bess Press |year=2002 |isbn=1-57306-129-8 |pages=145–47, 160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVVQ46epBqwC |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref> to c. 1628);{{#tag:ref|The Saudeleur era lasted around 500 years.<ref name=Hanlon /> Legend generally dates their downfall to the 1500s,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Lelu Stone Ruins (Kosrae, Micronesia): 1978–1981 Historical and Archaeological Research |issue=10 |series=Asian and Pacific Archaeology |first=Ross H |last=Cordy |publisher=Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa |year=1993 |isbn=0-8248-1134-8 |pages=14, 254, 258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQMNAQAAMAAJ |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref> however archaeologists date Saudeleur ruins to c. 1628.<ref name=Morgan>{{cite book|title=Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia |first=William N |last=Morgan |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1988 |isbn=0-292-76506-1 |pages=60, 63, 76, 85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3Z-aH7govUC |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=PlaceNames /><ref name=UG>{{cite book|title=Micronesica |publisher=University of Guam |year=1990 |pages=92, 203, 277 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgAcAAAAMAAJ |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref> |group=note}} and ''Mwehin [[tribal chief|Nahnmwarki]]'' (Period of the Nahnmwarki, c. 1628 to c. 1885).<ref name=Hanlon>{{cite book|title=Upon a Stone Altar: A History of the Island of Pohnpei to 1890 |volume=5 |series=Pacific Islands Monograph |first=David L |last=Hanlon |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1988 |isbn=0-8248-1124-0 |pages=13–25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OzgF5vZByVoC |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref><ref name=PlaceNames>{{cite book|title=Place Names of Pohnpei Island: Including And (Ant) and Pakin Atolls |first1=Tom |last1=Panholzer |first2=Mauricio |last2=Rufino |publisher=Bess Press |year=2003 |isbn=1-57306-166-2 |pages=xiii, xii, 101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2EWUggiuQIC |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref> Pohnpeian legend recounts that the [[Saudeleur dynasty|Saudeleur]] rulers, the first to bring government to Pohnpei, were of foreign origin. The Saudeleur centralized form of absolute rule is characterized in Pohnpeian legend as becoming increasingly oppressive over several generations. Arbitrary and onerous demands, as well as a reputation for offending Pohnpeian deities, sowed resentment among [[Pohnpeians]]. The Saudeleur Dynasty ended with the invasion of [[Isokelekel]], another semi-mythical foreigner, who replaced the Saudeleur rule with the more decentralized ''[[tribal chief|nahnmwarki]]'' system in existence today.<ref name=Ballinger>{{cite book|title=Lost City of Stone: The Story of Nan Madol, the "Atlantis" of the Pacific |first=Bill Sanborn |last=Ballinger |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1978 |isbn=0-671-24030-7 |pages=45–48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l6oSAQAAIAAJ |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=Native>{{cite book|title=The Native Polity of Ponape |volume=10 |series=Contributions to Anthropology |first=Saul H |last=Riesenberg |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |year=1968 |pages=38–51 |isbn=9780598442437 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JV-0AAAAIAAJ |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref><ref name=Petersen1>{{cite journal |title=Lost in the Weeds: Theme and Variation in Pohnpei Political Mythology |volume=35 |journal=Occasional Papers |page=34 |first=Glenn |last=Petersen |publisher=Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian & Pacific Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa |year=1990 |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/15545/OP35.pdf |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref> Isokelekel is regarded as the creator of the modern Pohnpeian ''nahnmwarki'' social system and the father of the Pompeian people.<ref name=Ballinger /><ref name=Goetzfridt>{{cite book|title=Micronesian Histories: An Analytical Bibliography and Guide to Interpretations |issue=54 |series=Bibliographies and Indexes in World History |first1=Nicholas J |last1=Goetzfridt |first2=Karen M |last2=Peacock |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=0-313-29103-9 |pages=3, 34–35, 102, 156–59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oqqdbU0tBvAC |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref>

Construction of [[Nan Madol]], a [[megalith]]ic complex made from [[Basalt#Columnar basalt|basalt lava logs]] in Pohnpei began as early as 1200 CE. Nan Madol is offshore of [[Temwen Island]] near [[Pohnpei]], consists of a series of small [[artificial island]]s linked by a network of canals, and is often called the ''[[Venice]] of the Pacific''. It is located near the island of [[Pohnpei]] and was the ceremonial and political seat of the [[Saudeleur dynasty]] that united Pohnpei's estimated 25,000 people until its centralized system collapsed amid the invasion of [[Isokelekel]].<ref name=Petersen1 /> Isokelekel and his descendants initially occupied the stone city, but later abandoned it.<ref name=PlaceNames />

The first people of the Northern Mariana Islands navigated to the islands at some period between 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE from Southeast Asia. They became known as the [[Chamorro people|Chamorros]], and spoke an [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language]] called [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]]. The ancient Chamorro left a number of megalithic ruins, including [[Latte stone]]. The Refaluwasch or [[Carolinian people]] came to the Marianas in the 1800s from the [[Caroline Islands]]. Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BCE, with inter-island navigation made possible using [[Marshall Islands stick chart|traditional stick charts]].<ref>[http://www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/orientation.htm The History of Mankind] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927110432/http://www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/orientation.htm |date=27 September 2013 }} by Professor Friedrich Ratzel, Book II, Section A, The Races of Oceania p. 165, picture of a stick chart from the Marshall Islands. MacMillan and Co., published 1896.</ref>

=== Polynesia ===
{{Further|Polynesians|Polynesia#Origins and expansion}}
{{Seealso|Early history of Tonga}}

Linguistic, archaeological, and human genetic evidence identifies the [[Polynesians]] as a subset of the sea-migrating Austronesian peoples, and tracing [[Polynesian languages]] places their prehistoric origins in the [[Malay Archipelago]], and ultimately, in [[Geography of Taiwan|Taiwan]]. Between about 3000 and 1000 BCE speakers of Austronesian languages began spreading from Taiwan into [[Maritime Southeast Asia]],<ref name="matrilineality2003">{{Cite journal|last1=Hage |first1= P. |last2= Marck |first2= J. |year= 2003 |title= Matrilineality and Melanesian Origin of Polynesian Y Chromosomes |journal= Current Anthropology |volume= 44 |issue= S5 |pages= S121|doi= 10.1086/379272 |s2cid= 224791767 }}</ref><ref name="Kayser, M. 2006">{{Cite journal |last1= Kayser |first1= M. |last2= Brauer |first2= S. |last3= Cordaux |first3= R. |last4= Casto |first4= A. |last5= Lao |first5= O. |last6= Zhivotovsky |first6= L.A. |last7= Moyse-Faurie |first7= C. |last8= Rutledge |first8= R.B. |last9= Schiefenhoevel |first9= W. |last10= Gil |first10= D. |last11= Lin |first11= A.A. |last12= Underhill | first12= P.A. | last13= Oefner | first13= P.J. | last14= Trent | first14= R.J. |last15= Stoneking |first15= M. |year= 2006 |title= Melanesian and Asian origins of Polynesians: mtDNA and Y chromosome gradients across the Pacific |journal= Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume= 23 |pmid= 16923821 |issue= 11 |pages= 2234–44 |doi= 10.1093/molbev/msl093 |display-authors= 8 |url= https://repub.eur.nl/pub/63703 |doi-access= free |hdl= 11858/00-001M-0000-0010-0145-0 |hdl-access= free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi= 10.1073/pnas.97.15.8225 |pmid= 10899994 |last1= Su |first1= B. |last2= Underhill |first2= P. |last3= Martinson |first3= J. |last4= Saha |first4= N. |last5= McGarvey |first5=S.T. |last6=Shriver |first6=M.D. |last7=Chu |first7=J. |last8=Oefner |first8= P.|last9= Chakraborty |first9= R. |last10= Chakraborty |year= 2000 |title= Polynesian origins: Insights from the Y chromosome |journal= [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|PNAS]] |volume= 97 |issue= 15 |pages= 8225–28 |first10= R. |last11= Deka |first11= R. |bibcode= 2000PNAS...97.8225S |pmc= 26928 |doi-access= free }}</ref> as [[Taiwanese aborigines|tribes]] thought to have travelled via South China about 8,000 years ago to the edges of western [[Micronesia]] and on into [[Melanesia]], although they differ from the [[Han Chinese]] who now comprise the majority of people in China and Taiwan. There are three theories regarding the prehistoric spread of humans across the Pacific to Polynesia. Kayser ''et al.'' (2000)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Kayser |first1= M. |last2= Brauer |first2= S. |last3= Weiss |first3= G. |last4= Underhill |first4= P.A.|last5= Roewer |first5= L. |last6= Schiefenhövel |first6= W. |last7= Stoneking |first7= M. |year= 2000 |title= Melanesian origin of Polynesian Y chromosomes |journal= Current Biology |pmid= 11069104 |volume= 10 |issue= 20 |pages= 1237–46 |doi= 10.1016/S0960-9822(00)00734-X |s2cid= 744958 |doi-access= free }}</ref> outline these well: 
* Express Train model: A recent (c. 3000–1000 BCE) expansion out of Taiwan, via the [[Philippines]] and eastern [[Indonesia]] and from the north-west ([[Bird's Head Peninsula|"Bird's Head"]]) of [[New Guinea]], on to [[Island Melanesia]] by roughly 1400 BCE, reaching western Polynesian islands about 900 BCE. This theory is supported by the majority of current human genetic data, [[Austronesian languages|linguistic]] data, and archaeological data
* Entangled Bank model: Emphasizes the long history of Austronesian speakers' cultural and genetic interactions with indigenous Island South-East Asians and Melanesians along the way to becoming the first Polynesians.
* Slow Boat model: Similar to the express-train model but with a longer hiatus in Melanesia along with admixture (genetically, culturally and linguistically) with the local population. This is supported by the Y-chromosome data of Kayser ''et al.'' (2000), which shows that all three [[haplotype]]s of Polynesian Y chromosomes can be traced back to Melanesia.<ref name=ANT>{{cite web|title = Melanesian and Asian Origins of Polynesians: mtDNA and Y Chromosome Gradients Across the Pacific |work= Anthrocivitas.net |date = October 2009 | url= http://anthrocivitas.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5420| access-date=23 January 2014}}</ref>

In the archaeological record there are well-defined traces of this expansion, allowing researchers to follow and date the path it took with some certainty. It is thought that by roughly 1400 BCE,<ref>{{Cite book |last= Kirch |first= P.V. |year= 2000 |title= On the road of the wings: an archaeological history of the Pacific Islands before European contact |location= London |publisher= University of California Press |isbn= 0-520-23461-8}} Quoted in Kayser, M.; ''et al.''. (2006).</ref> [[Lapita culture|"Lapita peoples"]] (so-named after their pottery tradition) appeared in the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] of northwest [[Melanesia]]. This culture is seen as having adapted and evolved through time and space since its emergence "Out of [[Taiwan]]". The Lapita people had given up rice production, for instance, after encountering and adapting to breadfruit in the Bird's Head area of New Guinea. In the end, the most eastern site for Lapita archaeological remains recovered so far has been through work on the [[archaeology of Samoa|archaeology]] in Samoa. The site is at [[Mulifanua]] on [[Upolu]]. The Mulifanua site, where 4,288 pottery shards have been found and studied, has a "true" age of {{circa}} 1000 BCE based on [[C14 dating]].<ref name="test">{{Cite journal |url= http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_98_1989/Volume_98,_No._3/New_information_for_the_Ferry_Berth_site,_Mulifanua,_Western_Samoa,_by_H._M._Leach,_p_319-330/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target= |title=New Information for the Ferry Berth Site, Mulifanua, Western Samoa |first1=Roger C. |last1=Green |first2=Helen M. |last2=Leach |journal= Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume= 98 |year= 1989 |issue= 3 |access-date= 1 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110510004830/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_98_1989/Volume_98%2C_No._3/New_information_for_the_Ferry_Berth_site%2C_Mulifanua%2C_Western_Samoa%2C_by_H._M._Leach%2C_p_319-330/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target= |archive-date=10 May 2011}}</ref> A 2010 study places the beginning of the human archaeological sequences of Polynesia in [[Tonga]] at 900 BCE,<ref name="burley128">{{Cite journal|first1=David V. |last1= Burley |first2= Andrew |last2= Barton |first3= William R. |last3= Dickinson |first4= Sean P.|last4= Connaughton | first5= Karine |last5= Taché |year= 2010 | title= Nukuleka as a Founder Colony for West Polynesian Settlement: New Insights from Recent Excavations | journal= Journal of Pacific Archaeology |volume= 1 |issue= 2 |pages= 128–44 }}</ref> the small differences in dates with Samoa being due to differences in radiocarbon-dating technologies between 1989 and 2010, the Tongan site apparently predating the Samoan site by some few decades in real time.

Within a mere three or four centuries between about 1300 and 900 BCE, the Lapita [[archaeological culture]] spread 6,000 kilometres eastwards from the Bismarck Archipelago, until it reached as far as [[Fiji]], [[Tonga]], and [[Samoa]].<ref name="Belwood1">{{cite book | last1= Bellwood |first1= Peter |title= The Polynesians – Prehistory of an Island People | year= 1987 |publisher= Thames and Hudson |pages= 45–65|isbn= 0-500-27450-9}}</ref><ref>PV Kirch. 1997. ''The Lapita Peoples''. Cambridge: Blackwell Publisher</ref> The area of Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region now known as Polynesia.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Burley | first1 = DV | year = 1998 | title = Tongan Archaeology and the Tongan Past, 2850–150 B.P. | doi = 10.1023/A:1022322303769 | journal = Journal of World Prehistory | volume = 12 | issue = 3 | pages = 337–92 | s2cid = 160340278 }}</ref> Ancient Tongan mythologies, as recorded by early European explorers, report the islands of 'Ata and Tongatapu as the first islands hauled to the surface from the deep ocean by [[Māui|Maui]].<ref>Honolulu: The Museum</ref><ref>[[John Martin (meteorologist)|John Martin]]. 2005 (reprint). ''William Mariner: An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific Ocean''. Vol. 1. Elibron Classics</ref>

[[File:Haʻamonga.jpg|thumb|right|'''[[Haʻamonga ʻa Maui]]''', a stone [[trilithon]] on the Tongan island of [[Tongatapu]], constructed of three coral limestone slabs each weighing at least 30–40 tons<ref name=wondermondo>{{cite web|url= http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/Au/Tonga/Tongatapu/HaamongaaMaui.htm|title= Ha'amonga 'a Maui (Trilithon) and 'esi Maka Fa'akinanga|publisher= Wondermondo|date= 20 November 2011}}</ref> It was built at the beginning of the 13th century under the 11th [[Tuʻi Tonga]] [[Tuʻi-tā-tui]].]]

The '''"[[Tuʻi Tonga Empire]]"''' or "Tongan Empire" in [[Oceania]] are descriptions sometimes given to Tongan expansionism and projected hegemony dating back to 950 CE, but at its peak during the period 1200–1500. While modern researchers and cultural experts attest to widespread Tongan influence and evidences of transoceanic trade and exchange of material and non-material cultural artifacts, [[empirical evidence]] of a "political" empire ruled for any length of time by successive rulers is lacking.<ref name="The Pacific Islands p. 133">"The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia", edited by Lal and Fortune, p. 133</ref>

Modern archeology, anthropology and linguistic studies confirm widespread Tongan cultural influence ranging widely<ref>[http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Alumni/addison/publications/Sand_Addison_2008.pdf Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Fiji/West-Polynesia Region"] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090918031030/http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Alumni/addison/publications/Sand_Addison_2008.pdf |date=18 September 2009 }} 2008: Vol 21. University of Otago Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WRapfjQ_iTEC&pg=PA87 "Hawaiki, Ancestral Polynesia: An Essay in Historical Anthropology"], Patrick Vinton Kirch; Roger C. Green (2001)</ref> through East 'Uvea, Rotuma, Futuna, Samoa and Niue, parts of Micronesia (Kiribati, Pohnpei), Vanuatu, and New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xOlI8czLshIC&pg=PA233 "Geraghty, P., 1994. Linguistic evidence for the Tongan empire"], Geraghty, P., 1994 in "Language Contact and Change in the Austronesian World: pp. 236–39.</ref> and while some academics prefer the term "maritime chiefdom",<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Clark | first1 = G. | last2 = Burley | first2 = D. | last3 = Murray | first3 = T. | year = 2008 | title = Monumentality in the development of the Tongan maritime chiefdom | journal = Antiquity | volume = 82 | issue = 318| pages = 994–1004 | doi=10.1017/s0003598x00097738| hdl = 1885/39600 | s2cid = 160933194 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> others argue that, while very different from examples elsewhere, ''..."empire" is probably the most convenient term.''<ref>"Pacific voyaging after the exploration period", Neich, R. 2006 in K.R. Howe (ed.) ''Vaka Moana, voyages of the ancestors: the discovery and settlement of the Pacific'': 198–245. Auckland: David Bateman. p. 230</ref>

[[Pottery]] art from Fijian towns shows that '''Fiji''' was settled before or around 3500 to 1000&nbsp;BC, although the details of Pacific migration remain vague. It is believed that the Lapita people or the ancestors of the [[Polynesians]] settled the islands first but not much is known of what became of them after the [[Melanesians]] arrived; they may have had some influence on the new culture, and archaeological evidence shows that Polynesians would have then moved on to [[Tonga]], [[Samoa]], and even Hawai'i.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

The first settlements in Fiji were started by voyaging traders and settlers from the west about 5000 years ago. Lapita pottery shards have been found at numerous excavations around the country. Aspects of Fijian culture are similar to the Melanesian culture of the western [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] but have a stronger connection to the older Polynesian cultures. Stretching across {{convert|1000|km}} from east to west, Fiji has been a nation of many languages. Fiji's history was one of settlement but also of mobility.

Over the centuries, a unique Fijian culture developed. Constant warfare and [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] between warring tribes were quite rampant and very much part of everyday life.<ref>Sanday, Peggy Reeves (1986) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=SYW6EzB9rYkC&pg=PA151 Divine hunger: cannibalism as a cultural system]'', Cambridge University Press, p. 151, IBNS 0521311144.</ref> In later centuries, the reputation of the cannibal lifestyle deterred European sailors from going near Fijian waters, and Fiji acquired the name ''Cannibal Isles''; as a result, Fiji remained unknown to the rest of the world.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050301062252/http://humanities.cqu.edu.au/history/52148/modules/pacific_peoplesA.html Pacific Peoples, Melanesia/Micronesia/Polynesia], [[Central Queensland University]].</ref>

[[File:AhuTongariki.jpg|thumb|left|[[Moai]] at Ahu Tongariki on [[Easter Island|Rapa Nui]] (Easter Island)]]

Early European visitors to '''Easter Island''' recorded local oral traditions about the original settlers. In these traditions, Easter Islanders claimed that a chief [[Hotu Matuꞌa]]<ref>Resemblance of the name to an early [[Mangareva]]n founder god ''Atu Motua'' ("Father Lord") has made some historians suspect that Hotu Matua was added to Easter Island mythology only in the 1860s, along with adopting the Mangarevan language. The "real" founder would have been ''Tu'u ko Iho'', who became just a supporting character in Hotu Matu'a-centric legends. See Steven Fischer (1994). ''Rapanui's Tu'u ko Iho Versus Mangareva's 'Atu Motua. Evidence for Multiple Reanalysis and Replacement in Rapanui Settlement Traditions, Easter Island.'' The Journal of Pacific History, 29(1), 3–18. See also ''Rapa Nui / Geography, History and Religion''. Peter H. Buck, Vikings of the Pacific, University of Chicago Press, 1938. pp. 228–36. [http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/rapanui/rapa1.html Online version].</ref> arrived on the island in one or two large canoes with his wife and extended family.<ref>[http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/rapanui/hotu.html Summary of Thomas S. Barthel's version of Hotu Matu'a's arrival to Easter Island].</ref> They are believed{{cn|date=March 2024}} to have been [[Polynesians|Polynesian]]. There is considerable uncertainty about the accuracy of this legend as well as about the date of settlement. Published literature suggests the island was settled around 300–400 [[Common Era|CE]], or at about the time of the arrival of the earliest settlers in [[Hawaii]].

Some scientists say that Easter Island was not inhabited until 700–800 CE. This date-range is based on [[glottochronology|glottochronological]] calculations and on three [[radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dates]] from charcoal that appears to have been produced during forest-clearance activities.<ref>[[Jared Diamond|Diamond, Jared]]. ''[[Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed]].'' Penguin Books: 2005. {{ISBN|0-14-303655-6}}. Chapter 2: Twilight at Easter pp. 79–119. See p. 89.</ref>

Moreover, a recent study which included radiocarbon dates from what is thought to be very early material suggests that the island was settled as recently as 1200 CE.<ref>Hunt, T.L., Lipo, C.P., 2006. Science, 1121879. See also [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1121879v1 "Late Colonization of Easter Island"] in ''Science Magazine''. [http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/projects/rapanui/hunt_lipo2006.pdf Entire article] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080829124029/http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/projects/rapanui/hunt_lipo2006.pdf |date= 29 August 2008 }} is also hosted by the Department of Anthropology of the University of Hawaii.</ref> This seems to be supported by a 2006 study of the island's deforestation, which could have started around the same time.<ref name="huntlipo2006">{{Cite magazine | title= Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island | first1= Terry L. | last1= Hunt | magazine= American Scientist | volume= 94 | issue= 5 | year= 2006 | pages= 412–19 | url= http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/id.1002,y.2006,no.5,content.true,css.print/issue.aspx | doi=10.1511/2006.61.412 | doi-broken-date= 1 November 2024 | url-status=dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006110649/http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/id.1002,y.2006,no.5,content.true,css.print/issue.aspx | archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="huntlipo2011">{{Cite book| publisher = Free Press| isbn = 978-1-4391-5031-3| last1 = Hunt| first1 = Terry| last2 = Lipo| first2 = Carl| title = The Statues that Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island| year = 2011}}</ref> A large, now [[extinction|extinct]], [[Arecaceae|palm]], ''[[Paschalococos]] disperta'' (related to the [[Chilean wine palm]] ''([[Jubaea]] chilensis)''), was one of the dominant trees as attested by fossil evidence; this species, unique to Easter Island, became extinct due to deforestation by the early Polynesian settlers.<ref>C. Michael Hogan (2008) [http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=82831 ''Chilean Wine Palm: Jubaea chilensis'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121017013207/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=82831 |date=17 October 2012 }}
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