Climate windows for Polynesian voyaging to New Zealand and Easter Island

A climate window during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, A.D. 800–1300) facilitated Polynesian voyaging to and from isolated East Polynesian islands, including New Zealand and Easter Island, by enabling off-wind sailing routes. The study used paleoclimate data assimilation to reconstruct Pacific wind patterns at bidecadal resolution, revealing that the intensification and poleward expansion of the subtropical anticyclone between A.D. 1140–1260 created favorable conditions for such voyages. This challenges the prevailing view that tradewind easterlies dominated prehistoric navigation, instead supporting the possibility of reliable off-wind sailing routes during this period.

Goodwin, I. D., Browning, S. A., & Anderson, A. J. (2014). Climate windows for Polynesian voyaging to New Zealand and Easter Island. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(41), 14716–14721. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1408918111