The 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 kilometres 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:
David Sear
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 Hawai’i, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The spread of sweet potatoes around Pacific islands indicate 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’
For generations, anthropologists and historians have debated what ended the long pause. Was it new sailing technology able to combat the easterly trade winds? Was it driven by social pressures and growing populations? Or was there a physical, environmental catalyst behind their choice?
Disney
To answer this, we have to look at the physical factors that make survival on a Pacific island possible: fresh water and food. As populations grow, resource demands intensify.
While ancestral Polynesians were highly adaptable and accustomed to seasonal droughts; prolonged and severe droughts during times of high population density might mean an island could no longer support its human population. Ultimately, island survival hinges on a single critical resource: rainfall.
Unlocking the climate record
David Sear
Until recently, scientists lacked evidence from the Tonga and Samoa region of what the climate was like in this critical migration era. But we were able to reconstruct these past changes by analysing hydrogen isotopes – slightly different forms of the same element – preserved in ancient mud from swamps and lakes.
In the tropics, the isotopic composition of rain water reflects the amount of rainfall. As algae and plants grow and absorb this water, they lock this chemical signature into molecules that can survive in sediment for thousands of years, providing a natural archive of past rainfall.
Using this technique, we found evidence of a sustained, severe dry period in the southwest tropical Pacific between 850 and 1200 AD. Our results, recently published in the Journal of Pacific Archaeology, indicate this was the driest period the region had experienced in the past 2,000 years. Crucially, this drought coincided with a time when island populations were larger.
The great migration into the eastern Pacific coincided with a dry climate in the western Pacific:
David Sear
Why would some islands experience a decades or centuries-long drought? Rainfall in the tropical South Pacific depends on the position of the South Pacific Convergence Zone or SPCZ, a major belt of clouds and rain that shifts east and west over time, driven by patterns of sea surface temperature. Short-term shifts are linked to El Niño and La Niña, but the SPCZ can also move over much longer timescales, bringing decades of unusually dry or wet conditions to different parts of the Pacific.
All this matches up with genetic data that indicates Samoa’s population rapidly increased around 1000 AD, perhaps thanks to the arrival of new people. This suggests several factors aligned – severe climate stress, expanding populations, better canoe technology – to prompt daring exploration eastwards.
The story of Polynesian expansion is remarkable in its own right. As Moana introduces new audiences to Pacific voyaging traditions, scientists are continuing to deepen our understanding of the environmental challenges these extraordinary navigators faced – and how they responded with ingenuity, resilience and exploration on an oceanic scale.
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