Maui was not a Polynesian man-god but an ancient Welshman brought to New Zealand by the Greeks centuries before Christ. Or, he might have been an Egyptian.
The authors of a book in which those claims are made say evidence that several civilisations beat Maori to New Zealand includes a huge boulder on a Northland farm which has an ancient Greek celestial calendar - called a kronostone - carved into it. The stone has been dubbed a "Jesus' wrist watch", says shipwreck explorer Noel Hilliam, one of the authors of To the End of the Earth, which will be launched in Dargaville today.
Mr Hilliam has been striving for 50 years to prove Spaniards or Portuguese sailed to New Zealand long before Maori.
The other two authors of To the End of the Earth are New Zealand amateur pre-historians Maxwell Hill and Gary Cook.
Their theories appear to be endorsed by the colourful, well-known British botanist, David Bellamy, who provided a foreword to the book that offers a unique rewrite of history.