Andrew Sharp claims in his Ancient Voyagers in the Pacificpublished in 1956 that the Pacific Islanders did not possessthe necessary navigational and sailing technology todeliberately navigate the distances between islands of thePacific when colonizing these islands. He claimscolonization was random and accidental. However, morerecent studies from 1972 on of Pacific navigation suggestdeliberate navigation and colonization was possible and didtake place. These studies have been supported byreenactments of voyages, computer simulations, and newlyacquired information regarding preparation for distantvoyages. Andrew Sharp supports his claim of accidentalcolonization by citing numerous examples of lost voyagerslanding on populated islands, their testimony or secondhand information recorded by Captain Cook. Sharp claimsthe only distant voyages were confined to "WesternPolynesia-Fiji and the Tahiti-Tuamotu archipelago" (Sharp1956:2).
