High Middle Ages · Oceania · Exploration

1000

Polynesians settle the last Pacific islands

1000

Double-hulled canoes carrying pigs, taro cuttings, and star-lore reached the outer edges of the great triangle. Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand would all see their first human footprints within a few generations. The greatest open-ocean migration in human history was nearing completion, a feat of navigation across thousands of miles of empty Pacific guided only by the stars, swells, and the flight paths of birds.