GoKawiilThe same question drives both the plot of Moana and decades of archaeological research: Why, after centuries of relative stability, did Polynesian voyagers suddenly begin settling islands thousands of kilometers away across the Pacific?
The latest Moana movie is a live-action adaptation of a Disney animated movie of the same name. While the films are fictional, they draw inspiration from the rich seafaring heritage of Polynesian peoples, whose ancestors undertook one of the greatest episodes of maritime exploration in human history.
New climate evidence may help us understand why they embarked on these voyages.
The backdrop to Moana is the mystery of the “long pause”. This was a period when Polynesian ancestors, the Lapita people, sailed east into the Pacific as far as the island archipelagos of Samoa and Tonga, arriving around 3,000 years ago. They brought with them distinct pottery styles and an island-based culture.
Human migrations into the Pacific:
Credit: David Sear Ancestral Polynesians only moved beyond Samoa and Tonga after a 1,700-year “long pause.” The remaining island archipelagos were then settled rapidly. Credit: David Sear Ancestral Polynesians only moved beyond Samoa and Tonga after a 1,700-year “long pause.” The remaining island archipelagos were then settled rapidly.
Yet, for the next 1,700 years, there was little voyaging further east. Archaeological evidence suggests that populations in Tonga and Samoa grew and developed their own distinct post-Lapita culture.
Then, between 900 and 1100 AD, ancestral Polynesians suddenly undertook a massive phase of eastward migration. Over the next century, voyagers in huge double-hulled sailing canoes reached Hawaii, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The spread of sweet potatoes around Pacific islands indicates they probably made contact with the continental Americas too.
When European navigators finally arrived centuries later, they were astonished to find even the smallest atolls peopled by communities sharing deep cultural and linguistic commonalities.
The mystery of the “long pause”
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