Chronograph AtlasNew Guinea and the Pacific islands. Explore selected places, societies and political changes in this region. Each account links to its corresponding year and place in the interactive atlas.
Throughout 610–1299
Highland communities continue millennia of wetland cultivation using drainage ditches.
Highland communities organise cultivation and maintain drainage ditches.
Wetland drainage supports root crops and bananas.
Kuk is a centre of independent agricultural development, with skills refined over millennia.
Sources: UNESCO. Kuk Early Agricultural Site.
View on the map: New Guinea · Kuk, 6107th–mid-8th centuries
Babeldaob’s hills are reshaped into terraces, platforms and ditches. These complexes combine residence, cultivation, ceremony and displays of social standing.
Distinct complexes are associated with local groups and leaders.
Terraces and drainage support cultivation and slope stability.
The scale of earthworks makes social standing visible in the landscape.
Sources: Annette Kühlem et al. The Monumental Landscape Transformation of the Island of Babeldaob (Republic of Palau): 3D-documentation and Geoarchaeological Investigations. Journal of Global Archaeology, 2022.; Jolie Liston. Practical Defensive Features in Palau’s Earthwork Landscape. In: Archaeological Perspectives on Conflict and Warfare in Australia and the Pacific. ANU Press, 2022, chapter 7.; Palau Historic Preservation Office. Ouballang ra Ngebedech (Ngebedech Terraces). UNESCO Tentative List, 2004.
View on the map: Palau · Babeldaob, 6107th–11th centuries
People settle Palauli before the great Pulemelei structure is built. Archaeology distinguishes an early residential phase from later monumental construction.
Residential areas form an island community.
Households prepare food in earth ovens.
Settlement layers trace daily life before the monument.
Sources: Helene Martinsson-Wallin. Samoan Archaeology and Cultural Heritage: Monuments and People, Memory and History. Archaeopress, 2016, chapter 2.
View on the map: Samoa · Palauli, 610c. 1025–1300
Voyagers settle the Society Islands; later dispersal reaches distant archipelagos.
Sources: Janet M. Wilmshurst et al. High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia. PNAS 108, 2011, pp. 1815–1820.
View on the map: East Polynesia, 1025c. 1200–1300
By the thirteenth century Polynesian communities are settling the Hawaiian archipelago.
Sources: Janet M. Wilmshurst et al. High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia. PNAS 108, 2011, pp. 1815–1820.
View on the map: Hawaiian Islands, 1200c. 1200–1300
Palaces, temples and rulers’ tombs rise on artificial islets.
The Saudeleurs establish a dynastic ceremonial centre in southeastern Pohnpei.
Builders transport basalt columns from elsewhere on the island and construct artificial islets.
Stone residential, burial and ritual complexes distinguish functions and social roles.
Sources: UNESCO. Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia.
View on the map: Pohnpei · Nan Madol, 1200c. 1300–1453
Māori communities develop coastal and inland settlement in Aotearoa. Local environments shape farming, fishing, stoneworking and connections between communities. Te Papa calls this period Te Tipunga, meaning growth.
Sources: John Wilson. History: Māori arrival and settlement. Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Te Tipunga: 1300–1500.
View on the map: Aotearoa · New Zealand, 1300c. 1300–1453
Rapa Nui communities build ceremonial ahu platforms and stone moai figures. Agriculture and marine resources sustain island life.
Sources: Janet M. Wilmshurst et al. High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia. PNAS 108, 2011, pp. 1815–1820.
View on the map: Rapa Nui, 1300c. 1300–1453
The Tui Tonga ruling line is associated with the ceremonial centre of Lapaha. Monumental tombs and imported stone tools show organised labour and connections with other archipelagos.
The Tuʻi Tonga lineage concentrates authority; Heketa is the early monumental centre.
Farming accompanies seafaring. Stone tools reveal connections between archipelagos.
Monuments express the ruling lineage’s standing and ability to mobilise labour.
Sources: UNESCO. Cultural Landscapes of the Pacific, 2007: Tonga.; Geoffrey Clark et al. Stone Tools from the Ancient Tongan State Reveal Prehistoric Interaction Centers in the Central Pacific. PNAS 111, 2014, pp. 10491–10496.; Geoffrey Clark et al. Chiefly Tombs, Lineage History, and the Ancient Tongan State.
View on the map: Tonga · island societies, 1300c. 1601–1667
Maritime communities farm, fish and exchange between islands. Galleon visits connect Guam with Pacific routes.
Sources: Guampedia / Guam Museum. Micronesia Milestones; Ancient CHamoru Fishing Practices; On the Question of Tattoo by Ancestral CHamorus.; Guampedia. Hagåtña; José de Quiroga y Losada; Transmission of Christianity into CHamoru Culture.
View on the map: Guam · CHamoru communities, 1601c. 1601–1789
Excavation at Station Bay shows a transition from an open settlement to fortification within approximately 1500–1800. The mapped start is approximate.
Sources: Te Papa Tongarewa. Te Puawaitanga: 1500–1800; Janet Davidson. Archaeological excavations at the Station Bay pā, Motutapu Island. Tuhinga 24, 2013.
View on the map: Motutapu · pā, 1601c. 1601–1789
Local communities sustain farming, fishing and inter-island exchange. European voyages do not replace local authority with permanent colonial administration.
Sources: O. H. K. Spate. The Spanish Lake. Chapter 5: The Southland I — Mendaña and the Bay of the Star. ANU Press.
View on the map: Santa Isabel · Solomon Islands, 16011814–1815
Missionaries arrive in December 1814. The settlement centres on exchange of knowledge, agriculture and Māori mediation.
Sources: Manatū Taonga. Māori intermediaries: Ruatara.
View on the map: Rangihoua · mission hosted by Ruatara, 18141816–1848
After Ruatara’s death in 1815, relations with local leaders remain central to the mission. Māori participate in trade and exchanges of knowledge.
Sources: Manatū Taonga. Māori intermediaries: Ruatara.
View on the map: Rangihoua · mission hosted by Ruatara, 18161816–1841
The Pomare monarchy strengthens island government. Missions and maritime trade transform social life.
Sources: National Library of New Zealand. Confederation and Annexation: papers respecting the Pacific Islands, 1884.
View on the map: Tahiti · Pomare dynasty, 18161914
New Zealand troops occupy the German colony in August 1914.
Sources: The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean; Manatū Taonga. Samoa and New Zealand.
View on the map: Western Samoa · Germany, 19141915–1918
The city develops as a port and commercial centre. The colonial capital moves to Wellington in 1865.
Sources: Manatū Taonga. New Zealand Wars; Dominion Status; Women and the Vote.
View on the map: Auckland · British colonial centre, 19151915–1918
The USA gains the eastern sphere in the 1899 agreement; deeds of cession follow in 1900 and 1904.
Sources: The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean; Manatū Taonga. Samoa and New Zealand.
View on the map: Eastern Samoa · USA, 19151946–1960
Adoption of the Statute of Westminster in 1947 confirms legislative autonomy. Welfare institutions and cities develop; more Māori move to urban areas.
Sources: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Asia and the Pacific; United Nations. Trusteeship Agreements for Pacific Islands, 1947, and Western Samoa, 1946.; New Zealand History. Statute of Westminster enacted, 1947.
View on the map: New Zealand · British colony, 19461946–1948
A UN trust territory administered by Australia.
Sources: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Asia and the Pacific; United Nations. Trusteeship Agreements for Pacific Islands, 1947, and Western Samoa, 1946.
View on the map: New Guinea · Australian military administration, 19461949–1960
Papua and trust-territory New Guinea form an administrative union in 1949, while their legal statuses remain distinct.
Sources: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Asia and the Pacific; United Nations. Trusteeship Agreements for Pacific Islands, 1947, and Western Samoa, 1946.
View on the map: New Guinea · Australian military administration, 19491992–2000
Independence is attained in 1970; national institutions replace colonial administration.
Sources: Office of the Historian. A Guide to Recognition and Diplomatic Relations: Fiji.
View on the map: Fiji · colony, 19921992–2000
Independence is attained in 1978; national institutions replace colonial administration.
Sources: Office of the Historian. A Guide to Recognition and Diplomatic Relations: Solomon Islands.
View on the map: Solomon Islands · colony, 19921992–2000
Independence is attained in 1980; national institutions replace colonial administration.
Sources: Office of the Historian. A Guide to Recognition and Diplomatic Relations: Vanuatu.
View on the map: Vanuatu · colony, 1992Historical frontiers are reconstructions at atlas scale. A territory, a dependent polity and a cultural area do not mean the same thing: read the selected card for its status and period. Medieval boundaries often followed zones of influence rather than surveyed lines. Modern borders provide a geographical reference, not evidence of historical ownership.