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The Polynesians were a special people, isolated from the rest of the world, remarkable sailors who ventured into the Pacific Ocean at great distances in search of new territories, orienting themselves by the stars, ocean currents, winds, flora and fauna. Their legends say that they came from heaven and stopped in a mystical land in today's Hawaii . Historians believe that the Polynesians originated in Taiwan and migrated by canoe to the Philippines five millennia ago to the Bismarck Archipelago near New Guinea . They took with them domestic animals: dogs, chickens, pigs, fruits and vegetables, rhizomesof taro and yam, breadfruit and bananas. They laid the foundations of the Lapita culture. They made tools from shell shells and pottery decorated with intricate patterns. In the year 1000 BC, they arrived in the islands of New Caledonia , Vanuatu , Fiji , Samoa and Tonga , in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands . Around 850 , they migrated to New Zealand where they became known as Māori . They also sailed to the Americas from where they brought potatoes and traded with the aborigines of Australia . In the Pacific islandsthey founded tribal societies. They were experts in wood and stone sculpture, using stone tools. On Easter Island they erected remarkable Moai sculptures , stone heads and volcanic rock up to 12 meters high and weighing over 50 tons, representing their ancestors. After being sculpted, they were placed on palm wood rolls and transported long distances. The statues were placed in ahu shrines, outdoor areas for religious ceremonies. 900 moai statues were built for the spirits of their ancestors to protect them. Unfortunately for them, they brought an end to them. In order to produce the palm rolls that carried the statues, they had to cut down entire forests, causing an ecological disaster on the island.
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