LAUSR

Significance For decades, the initial human settlement of New Zealand (NZ) has been estimated to have occurred between the 12th and 14th centuries AD. Our modeling of a large terrestrial and marine radiocarbon dataset resulted in a new high-resolution chronology of Māori settlement and demography beginning in the mid-13th century AD. We show for the first time a measurable temporal difference between initial human settlement across the north and south islands supported by the fluctuating population, deforestation, and subsistence trends. This finding indicates that Māori adapted quickly to a large, diverse environment and dynamic temperature and precipitation patterns. This work heralds a new phase of chronometric contribution to understanding past cultural behavior.