Location: Tubuai, French Polynesia Length: 11 min
In 2007, a group of archaeologists from the University of Otago, New Zealand, led by the late Rob Bollt and filmed by Adam Thompson, came to Tubuai, an island in east Polynesia, to look for traces of some of the greatest explorers in human history, who arrived on the island about 1000 years ago. The excavators found what they were looking for at the Atiahara Site, including an impressive array of fishing tools and items of personal adornment. The people of the island, descendants of those ancient explorers, welcomed the archaeologists with open arms.
Produced in 2007 by Adam Thompson
Copyright 2007 by Adam Thompson
Web links:
Atiahara Excavations in 2007 (Atiahara.org)
Austral Islands (Wikipedia)
Recalibrating Polynesian Prehistory by John Edward Terrell (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 30, 2011)
Robert Bollt (Wikipedia)