Radiocarbon dating in Hawaii

There have been changing views about initial Polynesian discovery and settlement of Hawaii, beginning with Abraham Fornander in the late 19th century and continuing through early archaeological investigations of the mid-20th century. There is no definitive date for the Polynesian discovery of Hawaii. Through the use of more advanced radiocarbon methods, taxonomic identification of samples, and stratigraphic archaeology, during the 2000s the consensus was established that the first arrived in Kauai sometime around 1000 AD,[1][2] and in Oahu sometime between 1100 AD and 1200 AD.[3][4][5] However, with more testing and refined samples, including chronologically tracing settlements in Society Islands and the Marquesas, two archipelagoes which have long been considered to be the immediate source regions for the first Polynesian voyagers to Hawaii, it has been concluded that the settlement of the Hawaiian Islands took place around 1219 to 1266 AD,[6] with the paleo-environmental evidence of agriculture indicating the Ancient Hawaiian population to have peaked around 1450 AD around 140,000 to 200,000.[7]

  1. ^ Burney, D.A. and W.K.P. Kikuchi. 2006. A millennium of human activity at Makauwahi Cave, Maha‘ulepu, Kaua‘i. Human Ecology 34:219–247.
  2. ^ Burney, D.A., H.F. James, L.P. Burney, S.L. Olson, W.K. Kikuchi, W. Wagner, M. Burney, D. McCloskey, D. Kikuchi, F.V. Grady, R. Gage, and R. Nishek. 2001. Fossil evidence for a diverse biota from Kaua‘i and its transformation since human arrival. Ecological Monographs 71:615–641.
  3. ^ Anderson, A., E. Conte, G. Clark, Y. Sinoto, and F. Petchy. 1999. Renewed excavations at Motu Paeao, Maupiti Island, French Polynesia. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 21: 47–66.
  4. ^ Anderson, A., H. Leach, I. Smith, and R. Walter. 1994. Reconsideration of the Marquesan sequence in East Polynesian prehistory, with particular reference to Hane (MUH1). Archaeology in Oceania 29: 29–52.
  5. ^ Conte, E. and A.J. Anderson. 2003. Radiocarbon ages for two sites on Ua Huka, Marquesas. Asian Perspectives 42:155–160.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference fast was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Tom Dye, Population Trends in Hawai'i Before 1778 (PDF)