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History of Fiji

The original homeland of the Pacific island peoples was South-East Asia. Early people, Homo erectus , reached South-East Asia about two million years ago and modern man, Homo sapien , arrived approximately 60,000 years ago. Although evidence of human settlement in New Guinea dates back at least 25,000 years, the Austronesian migration from South-East Asia to New Guinea 6000 years ago marked a new stage in cultural evolution. Unlike their neolithic forebears, who were hunters and gatherers, the newcomers (who eventually were to populate Fiji) had adopted sail and outrigger canoes, methods of cultivating root crops, and pig farming.

According to archaeological evidence (mostly pottery), Fiji was settled in three different waves. The earliest wave dates from about 1600 BC and the migrants settled in within a few hundred years (which, historically speaking, is fairly quickly). This is evidenced by a number of birds becoming extinct and changes in the distribution of bird life, indicating a massive environmental impact caused by a large, sophisticated population.

There is, however, new evidence suggesting that Fiji and the South Pacific may have been settled 8000 to 10,000 years ago. In an article published in the Journal of Pacific History (April 1986), Fergus Clunie and the late John Gibbons postulated that the oceans have risen dramatically in the last 4000 to 18,000 years due to the melting of the polar ice caps. If this is true, massive land areas that were once above the sea's surface now may be 130 to 150 metres beneath the sea. Thus, many of the sites that were settled by the first migrants to the South Pacific are inaccessible to archaeologists. Clunie and Gibbons buttress their argument with biological, archaeological and linguistic evidence.

Though scientists may disagree about exactly when the forebears of Fijians first came to roost, they submit that these people came from the New Britain area (now belonging to Papua New Guinea) and were most likely ancestors of present-day Polynesians. They practised agriculture, raised pigs and poultry, and fished.

Changes in pottery style indicate a probable second wave of migrants to the area between 400 and 100 BC. Scientists use the word 'probable' because they are not sure if the new pottery style was caused by an influx of new people or if it was simply a local development. If the changes were caused by migrants, the newcomers probably mixed with the indigenous people and perhaps dominated them.

The final settlement of Fiji (1000 to 1800 AD) was a massive movement from Melanesia. This wave of people practised a sophisticated form of terraced agriculture, which helped support a large population that may have risen to 200,000. People grew yams and taro, raised poultry, fished and evolved a highly developed culture.

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