Abstract
This paper reintroduces the concept of mass migration into debates concerning the timing and nature of New Zealand’s settlement by Polynesians. Upward revisions of New Zealand’s chronology show that the appearance of humans on the landscape occurred extremely rapidly, and that within decades settlements had been established across the full range of climatic zones. We show that the rapid appearance of a strong archaeological signature in the early 14th century AD is the result of a mass migration event, not the consequence of gradual demographic growth out of a currently unidentified earlier phase of settlement. Mass migration is not only consistent with the archaeological record but is supported by recent findings in molecular biology and genetics. It also opens the door to a new phase of engagement between archaeological method and indigenous Maori and Polynesian oral history and tradition.
Highlights
This paper reintroduces the concept of mass migration into debates concerning the timing and nature of New Zealand’s settlement by Polynesians
We show that the rapid appearance of a strong archaeological signature in the early 14th century AD is the result of a mass migration event, not the consequence of gradual demographic growth out of a currently unidentified earlier phase of settlement
We first look at the evidence for mass migration and we look at colonisation behaviours through the lens of the 14th century archaeological record
Summary
For many decades archaeologists interested in colonisation and culture change in Maori society used oral histories and voyaging traditions as aids to interpreting archaeological site data. There followed a formative period of adaptation and population growth over several centuries, during which time the Polynesian settlers explored new landscapes, modified their tropical subsistence systems and learned to exploit the resource base of a new climate and ecology Sites from this early period are often referred to as ‘Archaic Phase’ sites. The key assumptions were that New Zealand was settled by a relatively small number of people and that classical Maori society emerged from its tropical Polynesian roots after centuries of gradual adaptation and culture change In this model the primary drivers of cultural success were demographic growth and ecological adaptation—similar processes to those used to model the success and expansion of non-human coloniser species. We briefly review the Wairau Bar site before turning to the evidence for mass migration
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