New Study Narrows Māori NZ Settlement to Between 1250 and 1275 AD
November 8, 2022
Today’s study, published in the journal PNAS, used updated radiocarbon technology at 436 archaeological sites in the North Island and 145 in the South.
Dr Magdalena Bunbury from Australia’s James Cook University, who led the study, said the estimated timeline of when Māori arrived in Aotearoa was initially between the 12th and 14th centuries.
“This study has narrowed that down and shown that early Māori settlement happened in the North Island between AD 1250 and AD 1275,” Bunbury said.
She said Māori reached the South Island a decade later between 1280AD and 1295AD where the population rapidly grew during a time when they hunted the flightless moa bird.