A controversial new book reportedly claims Greeks, Spanish and Egyptians arrived in New Zealand before Maori.
If the assertions in the 378-page book titled To the End of the Earth are true, then Captain James Cook and Abel Tasman would lose their status as the first Europeans to reach New Zealand.
The book is co-authored by researchers Maxwell Hill, Gary Cook and Noel Hilliam and is to be released at the weekend, Fairfax reported.
Ancient maps drawn before the birth of Christ show the coastlines of Australia and New Zealand, the authors say.
The researchers claim artefacts including a rock carving of an ancient Greek ship found in Taupo and carvings on rocks at Raglan all point to the conclusion that Europeans lived in the country centuries before Polynesians.
The book's evidence also includes a stone pillar with a coastal map of New Zealand showing Lake Taupo in its pre-232AD eruption state.
Hill told Fairfax that the mythical Polynesian God Maui, said to have pulled up the North Island while fishing, was actually an Egyptian naval navigator who steered Greek ships exploring new shores.
He says this claim is backed up by a cave drawing near Santiago, Chile, which shows Maui as an Egyptian explorer.
But AUT University professor Paul Moon dismisses the claims, saying the authors lacked credibility.
"This is no evidence at all that people came to New Zealand at this time," Prof Moon told Fairfax.
"On the contrary, Ptolemy's map shows a complete lack of geographical knowledge about the South Pacific."
