Marquesan settlement chronology

Record summary

Archaeological and radiocarbon studies of the Marquesas have revisited when Polynesians first settled the archipelago, with proposed dates ranging from early first-millennium possibilities to later, more conservative chronologies. The question matters for models of eastward voyaging, demographic expansion, and interaction among eastern Polynesian islands. Nuku Hiva, Ua Huka, and other islands provide comparative contexts. Uncertainty is pronounced because many early dates derive from short-lived materials or marine samples, and site disturbance and calibration can shift the inferred founding interval.