New Research Says Māori People Discovered Antarctica 1,400 Years Ago

“We find Polynesian narratives of voyaging between the islands include voyaging into Antarctic waters by Hui Te Rangiora and his crew on the vessel Te Ivi O Atea, likely in the early 7th century,” lead researcher and conservation biologist Dr. Priscilla Wehi told CNN.

The new findings have been based on oral traditions and narratives, carvings, as well as “‘gray literature’ — research done outside of traditional academic and commercial channels — that hadn’t been properly examined,” according to CNN.

Records of Polynesian oral histories from 1899 describe the journey to Antarctica: “The monstrous seas … a foggy, misty, and dark place not seen by the sun … Other things are like rocks, whose summits pierce the skies, they are completely bare and without vegetation on them,” according to The Guardian.