South Polynesid
Group Polynesid
- common
- occasional
- rare
Description
Southern Polynesid variety. Some assume similarities with the first Polynesid variety that migrated from South-East Asia into Oceania. Found in its purest from in the Maori of New Zealand, but also Moriori and Rapa Nui, and occasionally across Polynesia. New Zealand and Easter Island were reached in the Middle Ages, sometimes replacing older Melanesids. Population collapsed due to introduced diseases from Europeans. Only in Maori the type could recover, although admixture is relatively high.
Physical traits
Medium brown, velvet-like skin, wavy or curly usually brown-black hair. Tall, mesoskelic, mesomorph to endomorph. Mesocephalic, mildly hypsicranic. Mesorrhine, sometimes convex nose. Facial features are relatively robust with significant supraorbital arches, a relatively wide face, and large eyes. Lips are not very thick.
Literature
Named and separated from other Polynesians by Biasutti (1967) as a Maori-Pasquese subrace after detailed investigations had been made by Tregear (1904) and Best (1924), among others. Often included in Polynesid (Eickstedt, 1934; Lundman, 1967; Knussmann, 1996).
