Compare and contrast Viking and Polynesian exploration and settlement.

The Polynesians were indigenous peoples, their expansion of human colonization by the remote Pacific began around 1600 BC, while the Vikings were descendants of the Germanic peoples and began to move to the European region 4,000 years ago.

The trips of the Polynesians were in canoes, they were dedicated to agriculture and navigation. They sailed from Tahiti to Hawaii, reaching Easter Island. Instead, the Vikings were merchants but also very aggressive looters, they began their explorations by attacking the coasts of England, Ireland, and Scotland. They also looted and burned cities in France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, and Spain, although they did not settle.

Today, Polynesians are spread over an area that forms an immense triangle, with the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, and Easter Island as vertices. The Vikings settled in Scandinavia, a region that includes Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.