June 14, 2004
Rat DNA clues to sea migration
Scientists have used DNA from rats to trace migration patterns of the ancestors of today's Polynesians.
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The researchers claim this result allows them to reject two well-known theories for the colonisation of Polynesia, including the Express Train To Polynesia (ETP) theory and the Bismarck Archipelago Indigenous Inhabitants (BAII) theory.
These two theories are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The ETP theory focuses on a rapid dispersal from Taiwan to Polynesia. The BAII proposes that there was no migration into Near Oceania, and that the Lapita culture arose from indigenous people in the area.
Matisoo-Smith and Robins argue that the truth was somewhere in between.
The absence of Haplogroup III rats from Near Oceania seems to preclude a progressive expansion from that area into Remote Oceania where Haplogroup III rats are common.
Instead, the researchers claim, the seafarers who brought Haplogroup III rats to Remote Oceania did not come from nearby New Guinea or the Solomon Islands but from close to the Asian mainland, completely by-passing Near Oceania.
Posted by Dienekes at June 14, 2004 08:22 PM | PermaLink