Professor Martin Richards, of the University of Leeds, published new mitochondrial DNA evidence in a paper published in The American Journal of Human Genetics on February 3, 2011, that refutes present theory of what peoples colonized Polynesia. The report was reviewed at the EurekaAlert web site.
Richards study of 157 complete mitochondrial genomes from 4,750 people in Southeast Asia and Polynesia indicates that Polynesia was colonized by Asians who had populated New Guinea 6000 to 8000 years ago.
Previous theory supported the idea that Polynesia was settled by peoples from Taiwan. This idea was based on archeological, linguistic, and incomplete mitochondrial DNA evidence.
Richards supports his conclusion that at least the female population of Polynesia (mitochondrial DNA is traced though females only) was settled by Asians at least two thousand years before any people from Taiwan found the area.
The mitochondrial DNA evidence predates the linguistic and archeological evidence of previous theories.
The two cultures from New Guinea and Taiwan blended around 4000 years ago to produce the present people of Polynesia.
According to Richards, "It seems likely there was a 'voyaging corridor' between the islands of Southeast Asia and the Bismarck Archipelago carrying maritime traders who brought their language and artifacts and perhaps helped to create the impetus for the migration into the Pacific.
Dr. Pedro Soares (now at the University of Porto) was co-author of the research.
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