Discovery and settlement of Hawaii

There is no definitive date for the Polynesian discovery of Hawaii. However, high-precision radiocarbon dating in Hawaii using chonometric hygiene analysis, and taxonomic identification selection of samples, puts the initial first settlement of the Hawaiian Islands sometime between 1219 and 1266 AD, originating from earlier settlements first established in the Society Islands around 1025 to 1120 AD, and in the Marquesan Islands sometime between 1100 and 1200 AD.

The frequently hypothesized model of constant population growth is that once people first arrived the population growth was constant until James Cook's arrival and thus halted by disease and then rapidly decreased. This theory though relies on a hypothetical settlement date that radiocarbon dating in Hawai'i has since refuted as well as linear growth on the islands. Notwithstanding this, this theory is still used to support an estimate of between 800,000 and 1,000,000 people in 1778.

The constant population growth theory of Hawaii has scant support from the archaeological data and this is contradicted by paleo-environmental evidence and radiocarbon dating of historical sites. Because as the population increases so does their imprint on the land as more and more people would require more and more food, light, and heat; thus there would be more fires, and thus more wood charcoal produced correlated to the number of people. Accordingly the evidence indicates rather an interesting model of arrested population growth, especially as a consequence of island life. This theory finds corroboration in archaeological censuses of abandoned habitation sites on leeward Hawai'i island and Kaho'olawe Island which indicate that population levels reached a peak before Cook's arrival The arrested-growth model fits well with an estimated pre-contact-era population of between 100,000 and 150,000, derived primarily from the study of historical records.

Population estimates based on an initial discovery and settlement of Hawaii settlement date, of around AD 1150, and a proposed growth rate at the highest in the world, and relying on the paleo-environmental evidence of early human impact on the land completely contradicts the constant population growth theory. Instead, the estimated population curve can be divided into three sections, pre-settlement where there were no people, the initial settlement growth phase of approximately 100 people around 1150 AD to the population peak in 1450 of approximately 150,000 people. The third phase between 1450 to 1778 reflected a relatively stable population, where apparent declines were followed by periods of growth. 15,000 years ago: Polynesians arrived in Hawaii after navigating the ocean using only the stars to guide them.

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