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Menzies’ claims have no scientific method
A leading New Zealand archaeologist is rubbishing claims by an English writer than Maori were descended from the union of Chinese concubines and Melanesian slaves. Retired Royal Navy captain Gavin Menzies has been in New Zealand promoting his book which claims these islands were discovered and settled by Chinese explorers sometime around 1421. But in an essay in a new collection published by Otago University Press, Atholl Anderson from Ngai Tahu says the conclusive evidence from archaeology and linguistics is that Aotearoa was settled about 1200 AD by small groups from the Cook Islands or Society Islands. Professor Anderson, who teaches at the Australian National University in Canberra, says Mr Menzies is only the latest in a line of people who approach history with no scientific method.
"They write books suggesting that New Zealand was settled by the Celt's or the Phonecians or by somebody else, I mean all you can say is that there isn't any evidence of this. If you want to demonstrate such a thing you have to actually find some evidence. Neither Gavin Menzies nor any of the other people have found anything that would convince anybody but themselves."
Professor Anderson says he saw Gavin Menzies book in manuscript, and dismissed it as being of no worth - and he never thought it would become a best-seller.
The book is “ Disputed Histories: Imagining New Zealand’s Past” published by the Otago University Press
Source:
Waatea News
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