New discovery suggests first Austronesian people, famous for maritime migration from 7,500 years ago, inhabited area beyond Taiwan
- The mainstream historical narrative is that Austronesian people originated in Taiwan before beginning their migration
- The ethnic group would spread to inhabit a remarkably large geographical area
Chinese archaeologists uncovered a 7,300-year-old civilisation on Pingtan island, off the coast of Fujian province in southeastern China, that indicates the island could have been an originating source of what some scientists consider the greatest maritime migration in human history.
The island was clearly inhabited by Austronesian people ranging from 3,000 to 7,500 years ago, archaeologists announced in late November, according to state media outlet China Daily.
Austronesians were a large ethnic group that lived across a huge geographical area, originating in Taiwan and reaching as far away as Easter Island in Chile. The population covered most of Southeast Asia, Micronesia, Polynesia, New Zealand, and the US state of Hawaii.
Today, around 400 million people are considered to be descendants of the early Austronesian tribes.
The project, which started in 2021, revealed that the first inhabitants had arrived on the island around 7,500 years ago. Archaeologists also discovered evidence that – between 5,000 and 6,500 years ago – the society had developed into a complex society with residential homes and buildings for handicrafts, waste removal, and food processing.
Additionally, the scientists found the earliest known evidence of rice cultivation on islands off the coast of China.
