The Last People Alive

Pitcairn and Henderson Islands

Megan , Xavier and Elizabeth

Mangareva, Pitcairn and Henderson Islands

• Located in the South Pacific in Southeast Polynesia

• Three habitable islands of Southeast Polynesia are Mangareva, Pitcairn and Henderson

• Islands were settled around A.D. 800

Mangareva Island

• Largest population and most abundant resources of all the islands

• Extinct volcanic islands 15 miles in diameter and surrounded by a coral reef

• High points on the islands received enough rain to have streams and springs as well as forests

Mangareva Island

• Islanders used terraced farming techniques

• Grew potatoes, breadfruit, taro, bananas and yams

• Abundant fishing on Mangareva’s reefs, including black-lipped pearl oysters to make tools

• Lacked hard stone resources for tool making

Pitcairn Island

• 2.5 miles in diameter, 300 miles Southeast of Mangareva

• Bountiful stone resources

• Shortage of fresh water, land for farming and reefs for fishing

Henderson Island

• Largest but least habitable of the three islands• Lacking in stone to make tools, fresh water,

trees and soil• Plenty of fish, shellfish, turtles and birds

Trade Between Islands

• Mangareva, Pitcairn and Henderson all traded with each other

• Islands exchanged resources, crops, animals, marriage partners and skilled craftspeople between themselves

Trade With Other Islands

• Mangareva acted as a hub between Pitcairn and Henderson and the larger islands of Polynesia

• Mangareva traded with Marquesas Islands, peaking at around A.D. 1100-1300

• Trade had stopped by A.D. 1500

Collapse of the Pitcairn Islands

• Mangarevans deforested the hills on the interior of the island in order to plant gardens

• Canoes could not be built without trees

• Lack of canoes caused a decline in fishing and trade between islands

• Deforestation also caused soil erosion and extinction of other plants and animals

Collapse of Pitcairn Islands

• Henderson Islanders used giant clam shells to make tools

• Bird bones were used to make awls• Limestone or coral of giant clam shells

were used to make oven stones• Limestone and shells were not effective as

replacements for oven stones• Islanders survived for several generations

after trade stopped

Collapse of Pitcairn Islands

• Fighting broke out over the few available resources left on the islands

• Islanders resorted to cannibalism to survive

• Pitcairn and Henderson Islands could not survive without the resources coming in from Mangareva Island

• No one survived on Pitcairn and Henderson

Five-Point Analysis

• Hostile Neighbors

• Loss of Friendly Neighbors

• Climate Change

• Society’s Reaction to Problems

• Environmental Damage

Henderson Island

Environmental Damage• No more imported Mangareva

oyster shell• No more Pitcairn volcanic

glass or fine-grained basalt– All of which used to be in

Henderson’s archaeological layers

• No metal, stones or imports• In replacement for stone, they

used shells or limestones for ovenstones

Loss of Friendly Neighbors

• No metal, stones or imports• In replacement for stone, they

used shells or limestones for ovenstones

Society’s Reaction to Problems

• In replacement for stone, they used shells or limestones for ovenstones

Mangareva Island

Environmental Damage• Habitat damage• Mass extinctions of plants and

animals• Islanders contributed to

deforestation in order to plant their gardens

• Forest became a savannah of ferns

• Soil erosion

Society’s Reaction to Problems

• Mass extinctions of plants and animals

• Islanders contributed to deforestation in order to plant their gardens

• Forest became a savannah of ferns

• Chronic hunger• Cannibalism• Islanders fighting over the

island

Pitcairn Island

Environmental Damage• Massive deforestation• Soil erosion• 5/9ths of its species of land

birds were extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction

• Loss of timber for canoes ended all trade

Society’s Reaction to Problems

• Hunting• Habitat destruction• Forest being burned down for

gardens

Loss of Friendly Neighbors

• Loss of timber for canoes ended trade

• Loss of imported volcanic stone

The End