The Maori people emerge in modern day New Zealand
Over several centuries in isolation, the Polynesian settlers developed a unique culture, with their own language, a rich mythology, and distinctive crafts and performing arts.
Australia & Oceania
Humans discover the islands currently known as New Zealand
An international team of researchers spent 4 years on a study which shows conclusively that the earliest evidence for human colonization is about 1280-1300 C.E.
Islet construction begins at Nan Madol in modern-day Micronesia
The ruined city is one of today’s great archaeological enigmas and is sometimes called “Atlantis,” the “eighth wonder of the world,” or the “Venice of the Pacific”.
Early humans discover and settle Micronesia
The Northern Marianas were the first islands in Oceania colonized by the Austronesian peoples. It was settled by the voyagers who sailed eastwards from the Philippines at approximately 1500 B.C.E.
The Lapita people discover and settle modern-day Samoa
Samoa was discovered and settled by their Lapita ancestors (Austronesian people speaking Oceanic languages), with New Zealand scientists dating remains in Samoa to about 2900–3500 years ago.
New Guineans begin practicing agriculture for first time
The oldest evidence for this is in the Kuk Swamp area, where planting, digging and staking of plants, and possibly drainage have been used to cultivate taro, banana, sago and yam.
Humans, probably in modern-day New Guinea, domesticate sugarcane for the first time
After domestication, its cultivation spread rapidly to Southeast Asia and southern China.
Aboriginal Australians develop complex religious beliefs now referred to as “The Dreaming”
The Dreaming is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of Everywhen during which the land was inhabited by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities.
Aboriginal Australians begin their rock painting tradition, among the oldest art in the world
The oldest firmly dated rock art painting in Australia, dated at roughly 26,000 B.C., is a charcoal drawing on a rock fragment in the Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter in the Northern Territory.
Humans reach and begin settling Tasmania
Evidence indicates the presence of Aborigines in Tasmania about 40,000 years ago. Rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago and by the time of European contact, the Aboriginal people in Tasmania had nine major nations, or ethnic groups