Polynesian Expansion

By ahahahmattttiiisse
  • Australia settled
    40,000 BCE

    Australia settled

    Last part of world, other than the Arctic, or the Polynesia Isles, to be settled.
  • Period: 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE

    Most of Polynesia Settled

    Most of Polynesia, with the exception of Hawaii, New Zealand, and the Marquesas Isles, was settled my the Lapita people
  • 300

    Marquesas and Hawaii settled

  • First Viking Raids
    790

    First Viking Raids

    First evidence of major seafaring on open sea not by Polynesians.
  • 1200

    Tonga occupies Samoa

  • New Zealand settled
    1280

    New Zealand settled

    New Zealand was the last of Polynesia to be settled.
  • 1500

    Beginning of the Maori Classical Period

    This period is know as Te Puawaitanga, or 'The Flowering'.
  • 1513

    Europeans find Polynesia

    The Portuguese explorers António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão were the first European navigators to make contact with the Polynesian Isles.

  • Abel Tasman finds New Zealand

    Abel Tasman was the first European to sight New Zealand
  • Voyage of the Hōkūle‘a

    Voyage of the Hōkūle‘a

    Voyage of the Hōkūle‘a across the Pacific recreates the voyage made from Hawaii to Tahiti