User:SamPerreira/Discovery and settlement of Hawaii

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= Discovery and Settlement of Hawaii = There is no definitive date for the Polynesian discovery of Hawaii. However, high-precision radiocarbon dating in Hawaii using chronometric hygiene analysis, and taxonomic identification selection of samples, puts the initial first settlement of the Hawaiian Islands sometime between 1219 and 1266 A.D. Though archaeologists originally speculated that the discovery of Hawaii by the Polynesians was around ca. A.D. 300 to 750. Advancements in radiocarbon dating have allowed archaeologists to re-date certain artifact found at ancient Hawaiian sites, thus painting a more accurate picture of the time line for Polynesian settlement. The earliest settlers believed by scientist to have colonized the Hawaiian Islands originated from earlier settlements first established in the Society Islands around 1025 to 1120 A.D., and in the Marquesas Islands sometime between 1100 and 1200 A.D. After the earliest groups of Polynesians had settled on the Hawaiian Islands, within a century the settlements began a rapid population growth. This likely happened across all of the East Polynesian sites as well, evidenced by a human induced change in environment across the archipelago; the introduction of invasive species, new vegetation, and deforestation are all telltale signs of human interference. By the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778 the population of Hawaiian living on the islands had grown exponentially. The exact size of the Hawaiian population at the time of first European contact has been the subject of some debate with estimates historically placing the numbers anywhere from 200,000 to 1,000,000. However more recent data by using a method of "backcasting" which involves using known data and going in reverse to assume data from the past, archaeologist estimate that the population size of Hawaii when Cook arrived in 1778 was between 683,200 to 800,000. The introduction of Western and European explorers to the Hawaiian Islands brought about many new viruses and diseases that the Hawaiians had not previously been exposed to. Diseases like gonorrhea, syphilis, tuberculosis, as well as other respiratory diseases had a massive effect on the Hawaiian population. It is estimated that by 1840 the population of Native Hawaiians had decreased by nearly 83.8%.