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Settling the Pacific: Ancient Oceania
How people spread across the Pacific over some 50,000 years, from New Guinea to Hawaii, Rapa Nui and New Zealand, and what the evidence says about when.
The Americas
Polynesia and the Pacific
Ancient voyagers, island chiefdoms and the settlement of Oceania.
Aboriginal Australia: A Deep History
A careful look at Aboriginal Australia's deep past: early arrival on Sahul, Lake Mungo, rock art, Budj Bim and the living cultural traditions that continue today.
Lapita Pottery and the First Island Voyagers
Lapita pottery, with its stamped geometric patterns, marks the first settlement of Remote Oceania about 3,300 years ago. Here is what the sherds and DNA show.
Marae Temples of Polynesia
Marae were the sacred platforms and courtyards at the centre of Polynesian communities, linking chiefs, ancestors and gods. Here is what they were and how they survive.
Nan Madol, the Stone City on the Reef
Nan Madol on Pohnpei is a complex of artificial islets built of basalt and coral on a reef. Learn what is known about its builders, its dates and its chiefs.
Polynesian Wayfinding
How Pacific navigators crossed open ocean without charts or instruments, using stars, swells, birds and mental maps, and how the tradition was revived.
The Tongan Maritime Chiefdom
How the Tui Tonga lineage built a sea-based network of influence across western Polynesia, what archaeology and tradition say, and where scholars disagree.
Voyaging Canoes of the Pacific
How Pacific peoples built double-hulled and outrigger canoes for long ocean journeys, from lashed hulls and crab-claw sails to the evidence that survives.
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