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Bow of the Polynesian Hokulea. Source: lameeks / Adobe Stock.

Modern Polynesians Recreate Ancient Voyage With No Tech (Video)

Embarking on a voyage that bridges time and tradition, modern-day adventurers pay homage to the ancient Polynesian voyagers who first discovered the remote Hawaiian islands . Guided by the celestial...
Aerial view of Erakor Island, Vanuatu. Source: Martin Valigursky/Adobe Stock

Study Traces Epic Polynesian Migration to the Pacific Islands

Applying a form of highly technical analysis known as geochemical fingerprinting to centuries-old stone artifacts, a team of scientists from France, Germany and the island nation of Vanuatu were able...
DNA genetic analysis proves link between Ancient Polynesians and Indigenous South Americans. Source: Ruben Ramos-Mendoza / Nature

Genetic Analysis Shows Early Contact Between South Americans and Polynesians

New evidence is emerging about the links between Polynesian and South American populations in the Pacific before the arrival of the Europeans . The theory that South Americans first colonized Easter...
Ancient Mariners: Transoceanic Voyages Before the Europeans

Ancient Mariners: Transoceanic Voyages Before the Europeans

The idea that humans have been completing transoceanic voyages - traveling the earth via our oceans - before Europeans set sail is, in many people's eyes, an accepted conclusion. Yet it is still...
Main: Group of Moai monoliths during sunset on Easter Island. Inset: Birdman cult carvings on the back of standing Moai.       Source: Aliaksei & thakala / Adobe stock

Easter Island’s Birdman Cult: A Story of Struggle and Survival

The Pacific Ocean is a world filled with diverse and remote islands, which are the home to some truly unique natives. Many of these islands were discovered comparatively recently in our history, and...
Main: Indigenous Polynesians. Credit: adrenalinapura / Adobe Stock. Inset: Bananas. Credit: Pongsak / Adobe Stock

Bananas Helped Ancient Lapita Culture Colonize Oceania

Scientists studying the teeth of the ancient Lapita people of Oceania , have found evidence that they survived on bananas, along with seeds and other fruits. This discovery is helping researchers to...
Malden Island Ruin

Ruins of Malden Island and The Mysterious Roads that Lead into the Sea

Malden is a tiny, island in the central Pacific Ocean, covering about 15 square miles in area. It is one of the Line Islands belonging to the Republic of Kiribati and while there are no resident...
Pitcairn Island Map

Real-Life Lord of the Flies: The Strange and Violent History of Pitcairn Island

Pitcairn Island is a place so remote, and with a history so bizarre, that until recently it was viewed almost as myth rather than reality. But the events that took place on this tiny island in the...
Tahai - Ahu Ko Te Riku, moai adorned with a pukao.

Pukao Study Claims Easter Island had a Cooperative Community Not A Warrior Culture

Analysis of these giant stone hats found on Rapa Nui, Chile (Easter Island) provides evidence contrary to the widely held belief that the ancient civilization had a warrior culture. According to a...
Maori Warrior

Maori Artifacts Indicate Early Polynesian Settlement on New Zealand Island

Live Science reports that a team of archaeologists in New Zealand has been untangling the mysteries of an early Polynesian settlement near the northern tip of the islands that could have been...
Disney ALMOST Got It Right: From Moana to Mayhem, The Mythology Behind the Real Maui

Disney ALMOST Got It Right: From Moana to Mayhem, The Mythology Behind the Real Maui

Disney’s latest animated feature film, Moana , has achieved critical acclaim, already netting over half a billion dollars. It tells the story of a Polynesian princess, who must seek out Maui, a...
Main: A DNA molecule (C. Bock/Wikimedia Commons). Inset: Two Melanesian girls

Ancient Denisovan DNA discovered in modern Pacific Islanders

The archaic Denisovan and Neanderthal DNA that persists in modern individuals from the Pacific islands of Melanesia could be a source of new information about early human history, according to a...
Goddess Council 4900-4750 BC Neolithic Culture of Cucuteni-Tripolye exposed in Cucuteni Museum of Piatra Neamt

Ancient Ink: How Tattoos Can Reveal Hidden Stories of Past Cultures

The English word tattoo is commonly said to be derived from the Polynesian word tatau or tatu . This Polynesian word means ‘to mark something’. Additionally, this word is an onomatopoeia, and is...
Skeletons unearthed at a 3,000-year-old cemetery in Vanuatu.

Ancient Skulls Give Insights into Origins of Polynesians

Due to an analysis of the oldest-known cemetery in the South Pacific, the long-standing debate over the origins and ancestry of Polynesians may finally be resolved. A group of scientists, who studied...
Easter Island

New research suggests early contact between Easter Island and Americas

People may have been making their way from Easter Island to the Americas well before the Dutch commander Jakob Roggeveen arrived with his ships in 1722, according to new genomic evidence showing that...
Samoa Cults

The Sailor Cults of Samoa

(Read Part 1 – Cannibal Jack Jones and the Beachcombers of Samoa ) In a development that was quite without parallel elsewhere, the Samoans in the 1830’s discovered a positive demand for a new...
An illustration of ancient Polynesians

New study suggests that the Philippines is the ancestral homeland of Polynesians

Research into the origins and dispersal of Polynesian chickens has helped scientists reconstruct the early migrations of the Polynesians and the animals they carried with them. The results revealed...
Mangareva - Binary System

Remote islanders invented binary number system before famous mathematician

Mangareva is home to just 2,000 inhabitants. The island is a tiny 18 square kilometres and is located halfway between Easter Island and Tahiti. Yet on this small, remote island, the ancient...
Easter Island

New Research Challenges Reason for Easter Island Collapse

Easter Island , or Rapa Nui, in the Polynesian language, is a small remote island a few thousand miles west of South America. One of the most interesting features of this island is its 887 giant...
Kennewick Man

The Mysterious Kennewick Man still hangs in Limbo

Nearly two decades ago, two young men stumbled across a human skull in the Columbian River at Kennewick, Washington. The discovery ended up being one of the biggest archaeological finds of a...
The Cataclysm of Easter Island - The Museum in Hanga Roa

The Cataclysm of Easter Island - The Museum in Hanga Roa (Part 6)

Our last stop was the archeological museum in Hanga Roa. Our group made a walk to the museum at the far end of town. We bought our tickets to museum and trailed in to look at the various exhibits in...
Wall of Vinapu, Easter Islands

The Cataclysm of Easter Island - The Megalithic Wall of Vinapu (Part 5)

When Jacques Cousteau came to Easter Island, he performed several important investigations. One was diving around the island searching for statues and other possible artifacts in the ocean. The...
The Cataclysm of Easter Island - Stones Walking

The Cataclysm of Easter Island - Stones Walking (Part 4)

The theory that the statues had been moved to their places by the use of wooden rollers or sleds has some problems: one was that the island is so rocky, it would have been impossible to roll any logs...
The Cataclysm of Easter Island - And the Statures Walked

The Cataclysm of Easter Island - And the Statues Walked… (Part 3)

Easter Island may have been first discovered over 5,000 years ago, though the oldest carbon dating is from about 300 AD. Most sites are near the ocean and would have been washed and destroyed by...

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