A World Without Polynesians

[Henriksson]

So, this idea popped up in my mind today. I used the search function and found this thread from 2007 and this thread, also from 2007, with a slightly smaller scope. Seeing as the Polynesia civilization often isn't discussed on this forum, I think that it is time to bring this topic up again. We are essentially imagining a world where the expansion of Austronesians stopped at the Solomon Islands.

The most interesting region to consider must be New Zealand. In our world, the Polynesians settled the land around 1250-1300, and before then it had was empty of humans, despite its (relative) proximity to Australia. The Maori culture appeared. ATL, the Dutch expidition to the island will find empty land instead of a land full of wary Maori. It would be interesting if this could be a starting point for a more significant Dutch presence in Oceania. Other regions worth mentioning are Madagascar and Hawaii.

It of course remains to be seen whether this lack of expansion is plausible, and I admit to not being very knowledgeable on the whole matter, and hope that y'all could weigh in with ideas.

 

[TapReflex]

I'm not the most knowledgable on this subject, but I recall hthat Polynesian expansion was spurred on by overpopulation on a given iland: If the population grew too large, then some pioneers would set sail for a new land. While New Zealand, Madagascar, and Hawaii are a bit far off for wooden canoes, a large colonization of the Pacific is inevitable once it begins.

 

[Mongo]

Well, one big difference would be that a lot more species are still alive when Europeans arrive at the islands that they would have occupied, the most famous of which must be the various species of Moa on North and South Islands of New Zealand. Aside from the Moas, though, there would have been a great many other species of birds (mostly but not all flightless) that were hunted to extinction for food by the early Polynesians, plus numerous non-bird species as well.

Of course the Europeans can be counted on to exterminate many of these species as well, but many of them should still be around today.

 

[Falastur]

Is it certain that the territories that the Polynesians spread to were originally empty? Is it not possible that Polynesian expansion simply overwhelmed less-numerous, less-advanced societies that had existed there before?

 

[Faeelin]

Pretty much; there's no archaeological evidence of previous human settlers.

 

[Falastur]

Pretty much; there's no archaeological evidence of previous human settlers.

Surely a primitive people living in mudhuts with no metalworking ability or pottery etc would leave no archaeological remains?

 

[Pachac]

Surely a primitive people living in mudhuts with no metalworking ability or pottery etc would leave no archaeological remains?

These areas would have some indication in the geological structure of human settlement. They didn't.

 

[Solarius]

Huh. I was thinking about this very topic today too. Is it possible that Papuan people could fill the void?

 

[Faeelin]

Surely a primitive people living in mudhuts with no metalworking ability or pottery etc would leave no archaeological remains?

Why? We can find remnants of stone tools, no?

 

[Pachac]

Huh. I was thinking about this very topic today too. Is it possible that Papuan people could fill the void?

The Papuans had the problem of being separated into three distinct groups. There were the lowland hunter-gatherers, the pleateau Farmers, and the highland Hunters. The prime group for colonization would be the Plateau farmers but they were cut off from the rest of the world.