Editing Island (section)

=== History of exploration ===
{{See also|Sea#Humans and the sea}}

[[File:Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Chronological dispersal of the [[Austronesian peoples]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chambers |first1=Geoffrey K. |title=[[Encyclopedia of Life Sciences]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0470016176 |chapter=Genetics and the Origins of the Polynesians |doi=10.1002/9780470015902.a0020808.pub2}}</ref>]]

The first evidence of humans colonizing islands probably occurred in the [[Paleolithic]] era, 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. Reaching the [[Indonesian islands]] of [[Flores]] and [[Timor]] would have required crossing distances of water of at least {{cvt|29|km}}.<ref name=":9">{{Citation |last1=Keegan |first1=William F. |title=2 - Colonization of Islands by Humans: A Biogeographical Perspective |date=January 1, 1987 |work=Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory |pages=49–92 |editor-last=Schiffer |editor-first=Michael B. |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780120031108500050 |access-date=July 3, 2024 |place=San Diego |publisher=Academic Press |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-003110-8.50005-0 |isbn=978-0-12-003110-8 |last2=Diamond |first2=Jared M.}}</ref> Some islands, such as [[Honshu]], were probably connected to the mainland with a [[land bridge]] that allowed humans to colonize it before it became an island.<ref name=":9" />

The first people to [[colonize]] distant oceanic islands were the [[Polynesians]].<ref name=":10" /> Many of the previous island settlements required traveling distances of less than {{cvt|100|km}}, whereas Polynesians may have traveled {{convert|2000|-|3200|km|mi|abbr=on}} to settle islands such as [[Tahiti]].<ref name=":9" /> They would send navigators to sail the ocean without the aid of [[navigational instruments]] to discover new islands for settlement.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |date=February 15, 2000 |title=Polynesia's Genius Navigators |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/polynesia-genius-navigators/ |access-date=June 28, 2024 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":20">{{Cite book |last=Gatty |first=Harold |url=https://archive.org/details/the-raft-book/page/n5/mode/2up |title=The Raft Book |publisher=George Grady Press |year=1943 |edition=2nd |location=New York City |pages=10,48,54-56}}</ref> Between 1100 and 800 BC, Polynesians sailed East from [[New Guinea]] and the [[Solomon Islands]] and reached the islands that make up the modern-day [[Fiji]] and [[Samoa]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SiCCMB6xQJoC&dq=ancient+pacific+exploration&pg=PR13 |title=We, the Navigators: The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific |date=May 1, 1994 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-1582-0 |page=8 |edition=Second |language=en}}</ref> The furthest extent of this migration would be [[Easter Island]] in the East, and [[New Zealand]] in the South, with New Zealand's first settlements between 1250 and 1300.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2, 2023 |title=Pacific voyaging and discovery |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/encounters/polynesian-voyaging |access-date=June 26, 2024 |website=New Zealand History |publisher=Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage}}</ref> 

Historians have sought to understand why some remote islands have always been uninhabited, while others, especially in the [[Pacific Ocean]], have long been populated by humans.<ref name=":9" /> Generally, larger islands are more likely to be able to sustain humans and thus are more likely to have been settled. Small islands that cannot sustain populations on their own can still be habitable if they are within a "commuting" distance to an island that has enough resources to be sustainable.<ref name=":9" /> The presence of an island is marked by [[seabirds]], differences in cloud and weather patterns, as well as changes in the direction of waves.<ref name=":20" /><ref name=":10" /> It is also possible for human populations to have gone extinct on islands, evidenced by explorers finding islands that show evidence of habitation but no life.<ref name=":9" />

Not all islands were or are inhabited by maritime cultures.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":8" /> In the past, some societies were found to have lost their seafaring ability over time, such as the case of the [[Canary Islands]], which were occupied by an [[indigenous people]] since the island's first discovery in the first century until being conquered by the [[Spanish Empire]] in 1496.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Cornwall |first=Warren |date=February 8, 2024 |title=A thousand years of solitude |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/humans-survive-alone-1000-years-desert-islands-off-africa |access-date=June 29, 2024 |journal=Science|volume=383 |issue=6683 |pages=580–584 |doi=10.1126/science.ado5092 |pmid=38330134 |bibcode=2024Sci...383..580C }}</ref> It has been hypothesized that since the inhabitants had little incentive for [[trade]] and had little to any contact with the mainland, they had no need for boats.<ref name=":8" /> 

The motivation for island exploration has been the subject of research and debate. Some early historians previously argued that early island colonization was unintentional, perhaps by a raft being swept out to sea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bird |first1=Michael I. |last2=Condie |first2=Scott A. |last3=O’Connor |first3=Sue |last4=O’Grady |first4=Damien |last5=Reepmeyer |first5=Christian |last6=Ulm |first6=Sean |last7=Zega |first7=Mojca |last8=Saltré |first8=Frédérik |last9=Bradshaw |first9=Corey J. A. |date=June 17, 2019 |title=Early human settlement of Sahul was not an accident |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=8220 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-42946-9 |pmid=31209234 |issn=2045-2322|pmc=6579762 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.8220B }}</ref> Others compare the motivations of Polynesian and similar explorers with those of [[Christopher Columbus]], the explorer who sailed westward over the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in search of an alternate route to the [[East Indies]].<ref name=":9" /> These historians theorize that successful explorers were rewarded with recognition and wealth, leading others to attempt possibly dangerous expeditions to discover more islands, usually with poor results.<ref name=":9" />