2. New Zealand was not Isolated 2000 Years Ago

New Zealand's closest neighbours were inhabited thousands of years ago, creating the potential for its eventual discovery:

1. Over 2,000 years ago, sea routes capable of efficiently transferring large groups of people were well established. These maritime networks connected the Mediterranean, India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea. Simultaneously, people from regions north of Southeast Asia were actively trading and migrating into these areas.

   
   

2. Australia, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea were settled tens of thousands of years earlier by humans who had migrated from northeastern Africa.

3. Over time, populations blended and formed new cultures through interaction. Migration has always been driven by the universal human desire to enhance quality of life and security.

   
   

4. Around 3,500 years ago, migration extended eastward from Southeast Asia and New Guinea to Melanesia, eventually leading to the formation of Polynesian societies.

   
   

5. The Indonesia-New Guinea region includes over 17,000 islands, each with distinct ethnic groups and cultural traits. Coastal communities, in particular, had strong maritime traditions, interacting extensively with neighboring islands and voyagers from beyond the region.

6. In pre-colonial times, these islands were organized into independent kingdoms that thrived and evolved over thousands of years.

This raises the question: if the Southeast Asia/New Guinea region had emerged as a centre of civilizational activity, why was New Zealand left uninhabited until around 800 years ago? A range of factors becomes relevant when examining this issue, including geographical, climatic, and technological considerations, as well as cultural and historical contexts.