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The chronology of colonization in New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Atholl Anderson
Atholl Anderson*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Extract

New Zealand was the last substantial landmass to be colonized by prehistoric people. Even within Oceania, where there are much smaller and more remote islands, such as Pitcairn and Easter Island, New Zealand stands out as the last-settled archipelago. Its prehistory promises, therefore, better archaeological evidence concerning prehistoric colonization of pristine land-masses than is the case anywhere else, as is apparent in the extinction of megafauna (Anderson 1989a). But much depends on the precise antiquity of human colonization and this, following a long period of consensus, is now a matter of sharp debate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 65 , Issue 249 , December 1991 , pp. 767 - 795
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1991

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Footnotes

The three islands of New Zealand were among the last to be colonized by prehistoric voyagers in the Pacific. Just when did the first canoes beach on their shores? What form did the colonization take? How quickly did the settlers explore the land and discover its resources?

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