The Dude wrote:Danna wrote:A south american origin has alway been up for discussion since the Kon Tiki and Heyerdahl's work - a non-religious theory.
Heh, those theories would also be non-scientific. DNA evidence shows polynesian origins to be south Asian, not south American.
I can't have gotten my point across very well. I was trying to say that when the DNA researchers began their work on the Maori, the South American hypothesis was still on the table as was the SE Asian one based on linguistic evidence. Adele's earlier work had traced the Kiore (a rat introduced by the Maori) to a Tahitian island far east of NZ (over half way to South America).
DNA has since confirmed Taiwan, by way of Melanesia. But the aim was not to link specifically NZ -> Taiwan; rather is was to trace descent without having a vested interest in any specific origin.
(Further Kiore work is probably awaiting another grad student, at a guess, either the rat got to Tahiti with the people from SE Asia, or the people did a dog-leg to NZ through Tahiti - which would conform with oral legend).