There were other people here before, no?New Zealand was settled by Polynesians relatively late in the 13th century AD, what if Polynesia migration never reached the island.
In 1642 Abel Tasman finds a completely uninhabited territory
There were other people here before, no?
Orthodoxy within academia for the last few decades is that the Polynesians were the first to explore and settle the New Zealand islands.
That being said, it is still pretty commonly thought in the wider public that there were pre Maori populations, although usually related, specifically the Moriori. This once formed the orthodox view but but it has long been accepted that the latter are just one branch of the Polynesian migration. The story usually goes that the latter arrived, settled the islands, were peaceful. Then the warlike Maori arrived later and expunged them from NZ - which tallies with the Maori invasion of the Chathams post British contact. Quite often it is political, framed this way by people who do not like the contemporary Treaty settlement.
Every now and then a story pops up that seems to indicate evidence has been found of pre Contact exploration by people that were not the Polynesians, Dutch or British, but it rarely seems to be substantiated. It is possible that someone else did explore/see NZ and land, but it will be likely very hard to ever prove beyond doubt. My view usually is that we have to look to how/who - which usually means that the most likely suspects are the Spanish or Portuguese earlier in the Age of Exploration, as it would be rather hard for any other human group to somehow end up in NZ, given where it is based, without better sailing technology, or without going the same route as the Polynesians.
Then there are the people who believe that there have been substantial settlement by other populations (Celts, Jews, Chinese, or some other Altantean like population). These people also usually believe that those populations were somehow wiped out by the Polynesians/Maori, despite often holding that the former were highly advanced and the Maori not. They also often believe that evidence of such peoples has been systemically expunged by some sort of left wing cabal. So, kooks usually.
I'd think any serious theories of pre-Polynesian inhabitants would center on the ancestors of the Australian Aborigines and Melanesians...
Orthodoxy within academia for the last few decades is that the Polynesians were the first to explore and settle the New Zealand islands.
That being said, it is still pretty commonly thought in the wider public that there were pre Maori populations, although usually related, specifically the Moriori. This once formed the orthodox view but but it has long been accepted that the latter are just one branch of the Polynesian migration. The story usually goes that the latter arrived, settled the islands, were peaceful. Then the warlike Maori arrived later and expunged them from NZ - which tallies with the Maori invasion of the Chathams post British contact. Quite often it is political, framed this way by people who do not like the contemporary Treaty settlement.
Every now and then a story pops up that seems to indicate evidence has been found of pre Contact exploration by people that were not the Polynesians, Dutch or British, but it rarely seems to be substantiated. It is possible that someone else did explore/see NZ and land, but it will be likely very hard to ever prove beyond doubt. My view usually is that we have to look to how/who - which usually means that the most likely suspects are the Spanish or Portuguese earlier in the Age of Exploration, as it would be rather hard for any other human group to somehow end up in NZ, given where it is based, without better sailing technology, or without going the same route as the Polynesians.
Then there are the people who believe that there have been substantial settlement by other populations (Celts, Jews, Chinese, or some other Altantean like population). These people also usually believe that those populations were somehow wiped out by the Polynesians/Maori, despite often holding that the former were highly advanced and the Maori not. They also often believe that evidence of such peoples has been systemically expunged by some sort of left wing cabal. So, kooks usually.
Orthodoxy within academia for the last few decades is that the Polynesians were the first to explore and settle the New Zealand islands.
That being said, it is still pretty commonly thought in the wider public that there were pre Maori populations, although usually related, specifically the Moriori. This once formed the orthodox view but but it has long been accepted that the latter are just one branch of the Polynesian migration. The story usually goes that the latter arrived, settled the islands, were peaceful. Then the warlike Maori arrived later and expunged them from NZ - which tallies with the Maori invasion of the Chathams post British contact. Quite often it is political, framed this way by people who do not like the contemporary Treaty settlement.
Every now and then a story pops up that seems to indicate evidence has been found of pre Contact exploration by people that were not the Polynesians, Dutch or British, but it rarely seems to be substantiated. It is possible that someone else did explore/see NZ and land, but it will be likely very hard to ever prove beyond doubt. My view usually is that we have to look to how/who - which usually means that the most likely suspects are the Spanish or Portuguese earlier in the Age of Exploration, as it would be rather hard for any other human group to somehow end up in NZ, given where it is based, without better sailing technology, or without going the same route as the Polynesians.
Then there are the people who believe that there have been substantial settlement by other populations (Celts, Jews, Chinese, or some other Altantean like population). These people also usually believe that those populations were somehow wiped out by the Polynesians/Maori, despite often holding that the former were highly advanced and the Maori not. They also often believe that evidence of such peoples has been systemically expunged by some sort of left wing cabal. So, kooks usually.
There were other people here before, no?
Yah, clearly the settlement project by the Polynesians was multi generational, just like the later British effort.
Has there been any evidence of prior Melanesian exploration of say the Kermadecs?