The history of the first human explorers in the Pacific is being rewritten after New Zealand researchers on Thursday revealed evidence that the ancestors of the Polynesians took a different route than previously supposed.

The University of Otago-led research team said the early migrants did not bypass New Guinea on their way from Southeast Asia to colonize remote areas of the Pacific, but probably penetrated the already populated remote interior of New Guinea at least 3,000 years ago.

Radiocarbon re-dating of an archaeological site at Wanalek, in the rugged New Guinea interior, and petrographic and geochemical analysis of pottery fragments found there showed influences of the Austronesian-speaking peoples.

Previous dating of pottery from New Guinea's Highlands region showed nothing dating from more than 1,000 years ago.

The fragments, which resembled the Lapita pottery style associated with Austronesian colonization of neighboring Western Pacific islands during the same period, were analyzed and found to be both produced on-site and brought in from elsewhere.

Study lead author Dylan Gaffney said the study overturned the existing consensus that Austronesian peoples, who are associated with the Lapita culture, simply skirted the coastal areas of New Guinea and did not interact with inland populations.

"It was thought that they bypassed this large landmass, opting instead to settle on islands in the Bismarck Archipelago before continuing an epic migration that ended with the colonization of remote Pacific Islands such as those of Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa," Gaffney said in a statement.

The identification of a clear Austronesian "fingerprint" in the New Guinea Highlands 3,000 years ago rewrote the history of people 's presence in this region.

"Crucially, the pottery comes from the interior rather than a coastal area, suggesting the movements of people and technological practices, as well as objects at this time," he said.

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