By Brook Sabin
A controversial book that claims Greek explorers got to New Zealand before Maori has just been published.
The authors say they've uncovered compelling evidence to support their case and have provided some of it to 3 News.
However, an academic is rubbishing the claims.
There is a so-called "chronos-stone", uncovered deep in the Hokianga.
Proof, those who discovered it say, that Greeks once lived in New Zealand.
Author Noel Hilliam paints over it to make the markings clearer.
He believes it's an ancient Greek calendar.
“There's so much physical and recorded evidence throughout the country here,” he says. “This is why I've put my hand up and approached the Government about having a royal commission of inquiry into the true early history of New Zealand.
Mr Hilliam claims that true history is detailed in his book, To the Ends of the Earth.
In it, the authors claim to have found ancient skeletons that pre-date Maori.
Stone walls, which stretch hundreds of metres, deep in a forest and numerous other artefacts like it were found in the Hawke’s Bay 100 years ago.
“It's not of this county,” says Mr Hilliam. “It's not Polynesian or Maori origin, but what we're going to do is, once we can get $800, we're going to get it carbon dated.”
Controversial botanist David Bellamy provides a foreword, supporting the book.
But conventional academics dismiss the idea as plain wrong.
“Saying the ancient Greeks and the ancient Egyptians arrived here 2000 years ago, setup civilisations, setup communities, and then vanished without any material trace of their culture is inconceivable,” says professor Paul Moon.
The authors also suggest Maui wasn't a Maori legend, but a Greek explorer.
Mr Hilliam denies he's being inflammatory.
“It's frustrating because a lot of allegations are made, a lot of claims are made, but there's not the evidence to support it and there should be,” says Mr Moon.
But Mr Hilliam says he won't stop until he's rewritten history.
3 News
source: newshub archive
