- MD
110: Kaiatia's early inhabitants were likely Melanesian
Kaiatia carving styles around the pacific. If you consider the end figures or manaia might represent some long forgotten image of a crocodile the you would have to consider just one area of the pacific – Melanesia. The physical artifact evidence suggest that Melanesians were very likely here before the Polynesians, were absorbed and lost in the mix. So Melanesians were here first. Interbreeding produced some obvious intermixes seen in early 1800's photographs as well. Some say they arrived with the Polynesians. Really? The earliest skeletons attributed to Polynesia have no Melanesian DNA that we know of.
When you look at the face of the Kaitaia carving, the wide face, googly eyes and thick lips resemble some carvings from old Melanesia. The overall style is similar to Melanesian lintels than any Polynesian ones. And chevrons are more prominent in Melanesia than Polynesia. Would Polynesians coming here carve stuff similar to that of home. Yes, but some of these items predate Polynesian in our view, which is why they are regarded as looking different (except museums suggest it was an old artistic style of the Polynesian arrivals). Yet no examples exist elsewhere in Polynesia. But they are right in one respect - it is an old artistic style!
Solomon island wood carvings have more angular patterns and chevrons are common, the crocodile is present and the human style and facial style is typical of Melanesia. Yet as it is carved here, it follows a changed style. It is not Maori or early Maori, or even Polynesian, it is those living here before Polynesian arrived who followed styles they were used to and much more is still hidden in Northland.
Spirals are found heavily in Melanesia, Indonesia, up to Taiwan and even all the way to Fiji. They even show up on Canada's NE coast, but in Polynesia there are almost none by comparison. See this post: - http://tangatawhenua16.wixsite.com/the-first-ones-blog/single-post/2017/03/02/-Spiral-petroglyphs-of-Polynesia So where did the spiral come to be in use by the Polynesian arrivals that developed into the tribes of Aotearoa? We suggest they adapted them from what they saw already here.
Chevrons exist in many 'archaic' items found in NZ that are attributed to early Maori design yet don't exist elsewhere Polynesia. Yet chevrons are common in Melanesia. The Pou found at the Hokianga has ribs and that is also a Melanesian style but also shows spirals on the shoulders. Melanesian carving often have symbols on the shoulders. Some very ancient Hawaiian carvings from Waipio Valley found under old tsunami debris that occurred 500 years ago had similar patterns not repeated elsewhere. Generally, Polynesian carving had no connection with the Kaiatia style. But Melanesian...yes!
The Great Divide’s author, Ian Wishart, mentions the rock paintings of the South Island has creatures like crocodiles and snakes. Even scientists in the nineteenth century were convinced ancient Maori must have had some cultural memory of Melanesia, because these cave drawings show animals that did not exist in Polynesia. They did exist in Melanesia, however. The Solomons are home to large saltwater crocodiles. It makes sense then that if you’ve come on a long sea voyage you might draw pictures or carve images of the life you left behind. Even Ian Wishart agrees that mainstream academia are in denial on the Melanesian links, but that the evidence is becoming harder to ignore.
Still, much of this is conjecture and speculation, enough to make suggestion but providing no conclusive proof.. So let's look at the logic...
MELANESIAN MIGRATIONS
Let's look at some further suggestions. Many scientific articles suggest that Pacific immigration originally came from the Solomon Islands, which are in Melanesia. The first to leave the Solomon Islands were sailing into the unknown and they began doing so about 3500 years ago! Archaeological evidence (incl pottery) suggests people crossed 2000 miles of open ocean to reach places like Tonga and Samoa. But after some 300 years of island hopping they stopped exploring for about 2000 years. Why did they stop? Voyage simulations indicate they were incapable of sailing through the strong winds surrounding Tonga and Samoa. When boating and navigation technology expanded they were able to continue exploring...at least that is the suggestion. The climatic variances we know as El Niño and La Niña wind and current changes prevented them as a group.
Wind was an essential part of human expansion in the Pacific. When they left Melanesia they had the winds at their backs and Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu were easy destinations. But once there, Samoa in particular, the environmental conditions changed. But the 2000 year hiatus didn't occur completely because they were explorers and adventurers. Many would have tried, and just like the movie Moana, eventually when none returned to tell them of new lands to the south and east, they gave up until in time (2000 years later and now regarded as Polynesian) they learned better ways of travelling locally, understanding the currents and the stars.
So initially the Melanesian explorers, in say Tonga, now needed to sail against the wind to expand further into the unknown. The first point was that it was the unknown. There was no map, and likely once at another place had no way to retrace their journey. As a group they stayed but undoubtedly in the early years of reaching stages of reaching Tonga and Fiji it is obvious that many would have tried but were regarded as 'lost as sea' because they never returned, especially if blown off course or the journey was so many weeks at sea they had no idea where they were ro how to get back, even if they wanted to. So, when you fail again and again, you stop sending people and finally settle down.
But some did go exploring, and many did get lost but some that ventured east and south did find new lands. They found Tiritiri-o-te-moana and stayed here as there was no hope of returning home. It was the descendants of these Melanesians that were here before Taupo's last eruption. They would have seen Rangitoto erupt a few times before any Polynesian saw the last one around 1400AD. They were here in small groups along with others who were already here long before them (just as the Sentinelese have been on that one small island for 60,000 years). They were here when more adventurers arrived from Melanesia around the time of Christ. They were here before adventurers came from the far east of the Pacific and certainly before the first 'Polynesian' explorers from 700AD - before Toi, Kupe and whatever one of three Maui's even came close to these islands. That is why there are old artefacts deep below ground (such as the stump found in Auckland of which we have a separate article), below eruption levels and below Polynesian middens. That is why there are carved sacrificial stone bowls in hill tops in Marlborough, a stone mace in Pelorus, unusual shaped pendants that are not Polynesian and many examples of Melanesian design in wooden and stone artefacts...and all this before Pounamu was ever used. NZ was occupied sporadically over millennia but most of it is lost so deep it will be hard to find.
So is that proof? There is a little, but not much that is recognised. Academics don't want to accept such notions and those artefacts that suggest otherwise, even some of those odd items carefully sketched in the 1800's are no longer able to be found or conveniently lost. Ever wonder why?
As we have stated before, we believe evidence suggests that Melanesians were here in small numbers before the Polynesian explorers made it here and began to spad and dominate. DNA on the bones we seek will tell in time if they have Melanesian influence or something even further afield, or something stranger still - after all what they first saw made them cover them up quickly and effectively, so quickly in fact that the land owner knew nothing about the discovery or the coverup (on his own land!) it until I told him! That is proof no one can deny...as long as it goes public, worldwide and over a short period of time not to be able to be shut down. So when and if we provide it, we need your help to propagate the information.
