| | '''Polynesia''' is part of [[Oceania]], comprising over a thousand islands in the south [[Pacific Ocean]]. The Polynesian people may be descended from the [[Lapita]] people who migrated into the islands now known as [[Fiji]], [[Samoa]] and [[Tonga]] several thousand years ago,<ref>http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Lapita</ref><ref>http://www.lapita-voyage.org/en/lapita_voyage_konzept.html</ref> and later Polynesians migrated to [[New Zealand]] (the [[Maori]] arrived around 1000 AD), [[Hawaii|Hawai'i]] and other islands. Other countries and territories in Polynesia include [[American Samoa]], [[Niue]], [[Tuvalu]], [[Wallis and Futuna]], [[French Polynesia]] (including [[Tahiti]]), [[Pitcairn Island]], [[Cook Islands]] and [[Tokelau]]. | | '''Polynesia''' is part of [[Oceania]], comprising over a thousand islands in the south [[Pacific Ocean]]. The Polynesian people may be descended from the [[Lapita]] people who migrated into the islands now known as [[Fiji]], [[Samoa]] and [[Tonga]] several thousand years ago,<ref>http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Lapita</ref><ref>http://www.lapita-voyage.org/en/lapita_voyage_konzept.html</ref> and later Polynesians migrated to [[New Zealand]] (the [[Maori]] arrived around 1000 AD), [[Hawaii|Hawai'i]] and other islands. Other countries and territories in Polynesia include [[American Samoa]], [[Niue]], [[Tuvalu]], [[Wallis and Futuna]], [[French Polynesia]] (including [[Tahiti]]), [[Pitcairn Island]], [[Cook Islands]] and [[Tokelau]]. |
| − | Like other cultures, the Polynesians used a flattened or terraced pyramid for worship, similar to a [[ziggurat]]. They grew in population most significantly after A.D. 1000. {{Fact}} | + | Like other cultures, the Polynesians used a flattened or terraced pyramid for worship, similar to a [[ziggurat]]. They grew in population most significantly after A.D. 1000. |