How did the Lapita culture contribute to the settlement of western Polynesia?

The Lapita culture was instrumental in the settlement of western Polynesia, as its people were highly mobile, skilled seaborne explorers and navigators who originated from East Asia. By approximately 1000 BCE, these settlers had expanded from the Bismarck Archipelago through Melanesia to reach Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, which are collectively regarded as the Polynesian homeland.12

The presence of the Lapita people is primarily identified through their distinctive fired pottery, which has been discovered at early settlement sites such as the Mulifanua Lagoon on Upolu. These settlers utilized outrigger canoes to traverse the Pacific, establishing coastal communities that relied on fishing and, to a limited extent, agriculture. While some skills, such as pottery manufacturing, eventually disappeared in areas like Samoa and the Marquesas, the Lapita culture provided the foundational maritime and social framework that allowed for the subsequent expansion into eastern Polynesia.132