throughout the so-called
Polynesian Triangle. Polynesians, including
Samoans,
Tongans,
Niueans,
Cook Islands Māori,
Tahitian Mā'ohi,
Hawaiian Māoli,
Marquesans, and
New Zealand Māori, are a subset of the
Austronesian peoples. They share the same origins as the indigenous peoples of
Taiwan,
Maritime Southeast Asia,
Micronesia, and
Madagascar. This is supported by
genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence. There are
multiple hypotheses regarding the ultimate origin and mode of dispersal of the
Austronesian peoples, but the most widely accepted theory is that modern Austronesians originated from migrations out of
Taiwan between 3000 and 1000 BC. Using relatively advanced maritime innovations such as the
catamaran,
outrigger boats, and
crab claw sails, they rapidly colonized the islands of both the
Indian and
Pacific oceans. They were the first humans to cross vast distances of water on ocean-going boats. Despite the popularity of rejected hypotheses, such as
Thor Heyerdahl's belief that Polynesians are descendants of "bearded white men" who sailed on primitive rafts from
South America, Polynesians are believed to have originated from a branch of the Austronesian migrations in
Island Melanesia. The direct ancestors of the Polynesians are believed to be the
Neolithic Lapita culture. This group emerged in
Island Melanesia and
Micronesia around 1500 BC from a convergence of Austronesian migration waves, originating from both Island Southeast Asia to the west and an earlier Austronesian migration to Micronesia to the north. The culture was distinguished by dentate-stamped pottery. However, their eastward expansion halted when they reached the western Polynesian islands of
Fiji,
Samoa, and
Tonga by around 900 BC. This remained the furthest extent of the
Austronesian expansion in the Pacific for approximately 1,500 years, during which the Lapita culture in these islands abruptly lost the technology of pottery-making for unknown reasons. They resumed their eastward migrations around 700 AD, spreading to the
Cook Islands,
French Polynesia, and the
Marquesas. From here, they expanded further to
Hawaii by 900 AD,
Easter Island by 1000 AD, and finally
New Zealand by 1200 AD.
Genetic studies ''
double-hulled war canoes Analysis by Kayser
et al. (2008) found that only 21% of the Polynesian autosomal gene pool is of
Australo-Melanesian origin, with the remaining 79% being of Austronesian origin. Another study by Friedlaender
et al. (2008) also confirmed that Polynesians are genetically closer to
Micronesians,
Taiwanese Aborigines, and
Islander Southeast Asians. The study concluded that Polynesians moved through Melanesia fairly rapidly, allowing only limited admixture between Austronesians and Papuans. Polynesians predominantly belong to Haplogroup B (mtDNA), particularly to mtDNA B4a1a1 (the Polynesian motif). The high frequencies of mtDNA B4 in Polynesians are the result of genetic drift and represent the descendants of a few Austronesian females who mixed with Papuan males. The Polynesian population experienced a
founder effect and genetic drift due to the small number of ancestors. As a result of the founder effect, Polynesians are distinctively different both
genotypically and
phenotypically from the parent population, due to the establishment of a new population by a very small number of individuals from a larger population, which also causes a loss of genetic variation. Soares
et al. (2008) argued for an older pre-
Holocene Sundaland origin in
Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) based on
mitochondrial DNA. The "out of Taiwan" model was challenged by a study from Leeds University published in
Molecular Biology and Evolution. Examination of mitochondrial DNA lineages indicates that they have been evolving in ISEA for longer than previously believed. Ancestors of the Polynesians arrived in the
Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea at least 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. A 2014 study by Lipson
et al., using
whole genome data, supports the findings of Kayser
et al. Modern Polynesians were shown to have lower levels of admixture with Australo-Melanesians than Austronesians in
Island Melanesia. Nonetheless, both groups show admixture, along with other Austronesian populations outside of Taiwan, indicating varying degrees of intermarriage between the incoming Neolithic Austronesian settlers and the preexisting
Paleolithic Australo-Melanesian populations of
Island Southeast Asia and
Melanesia. Studies from 2016 and 2017 also support the idea that the earliest Lapita settlers mostly bypassed New Guinea, coming directly from
Taiwan or the northern
Philippines. The intermarriage and admixture with Australo-Melanesian
Papuans evident in the genetics of modern Polynesians (as well as Islander
Melanesians) occurred after the settlement of
Tonga and
Vanuatu. A 2020 study found that Polynesians and
the Indigenous peoples of South America
came in contact around 1200 AD, centuries before Europeans interacted with either group. ==People==