Archaeologists still have no definitive answer. Some say southern China, others say the Indochina Peninsula. In the last decade or so a theory has become popular among archaeologists and linguists that this group originated in Taiwan, moving out toward the south and east. Ultimately they made it as far east as Easter Island, and as far south as New Zealand (see the map "Spread of Austronesian Peoples").
考古學家如今仍未定論，中國華南地區、中南半島都有人說，最近十餘年考古、語言學界還有一派盛行的說法是，這個民族起源於台灣，自北而南、自西而東，最後遷徙至復活島及紐西蘭南島（詳「南島語族擴散圖」）。