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The Lapita people are the ancestors of the Polynesians. They fished, grew taro, yams and breadfruit, and kept pigs, dogs and chickens. Many words for foods in Polynesian languages are very similar, and linguists have used them to help reconstruct the proto-Austronesian language of the Lapita. For instance the word for taro – talo in Tongan – was tales in the Lapita language.
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Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
by Carl Walrond
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