The Last People Alive: Pitcairn & Henderson Islands Hennie Kashiwa 9.22.05

Overview Only habitable islands in Southeast Polynesia 1,000 miles from Marquesas and Societies Two volcanic and one reef Settled around 800 A.D. Co-dependent for survival Environmental breakdown lead to breakdown of trade Breakdown of trade lead to the extinction of islanders

Mangareva Largest and can support greatest population Pros: Cons: Water and land for agriculture Yams, taro, breadfruit, bananas Trees for canoes Marine life Black lipped oyster Coarse-grained basalt Hub of greater trade system Cons: Lack of high-quality stone

Pitcairn Island Small volcanic island—cannot support large population Pros: Volcanic glass Sharp tools Dense basalt Tools… adzes, for example Trees for canoes Cons: Steep terrain Difficult to cultivate Little sea access No place to live Little marine life Underwater geography unfavorable

Henderson Island Reef that has been pushed up by geological forces Somehow supported a tiny population Pros: Abundance of seafood and birds… that’s it. That and sea turtles A good picnic spot for travelers Cons: Little fresh water No trees suitable for canoe-making No usable stone No soil for cultivation

Trade: Exports Mangareva Pitcairn Henderson Black lipped oyster products Vegetable peelers, fish hooks Pitcairn Basalt and volcanic glass Adzes, cutting tools, oven stones Henderson Food, some agricultural products

Trade: Imports Mangareva Pitcairn Henderson Pitcairn: volcanic glass, dense basalt Henderson: sea turtles Pitcairn Mangareva: oyster products, people Henderson: ? Henderson Everything!

How do we know this? Marshall Weisler Stone analysis Carbon dating Physical attributes Chemical composition Carbon dating Waste piles Charcoal Human/animal remains

It’s all downhill from here… Interisland trade with the Marquesas “motherland” peaked between 1100 and 1300 A.D. All trade stopped by 1500 A.D.

Henderson Island: Oh No!!! Complete lack of trade lead to many shortcomings: No stone for tools, cooking stones Bird bones, giant clamshells used instead No wood for canoes Not much they could do about this one No oysters Purse shells used for limited hook making

Henderson Island struggles on… for a bit. After loss of trade, a few dozen people survived for nearly a century Human presence lead to over harvesting of wildlife Six species of birds extinct along with sea creatures All were gone by 1606

Pitcairn goes down HMS Bounty arrives in 1790 Finds island uninhabited People probably disappeared much earlier Massive deforestation

Mangareva gets ugly Deforestation Too many people, not enough to eat No trees to make canoes; fishing & trade impossible Erosion of topsoil Unable to cultivate crops Too many people, not enough to eat Carrying capacity met and exceeded Civil war between east & west… it’s a 5 mile island! Breakdown in system of government Cannibalism Not only eating the freshly dead, but also buried corpses

So how did it all end? Wars?

Dwindling Population? A lone woman survived on San Nicolas Island for 18 years after everyone else died

Mass murder? Fighting, cannibalism?

Mass suicide? A choice of desperation

Just sitting around… Everyone is related to each other… inbreeding taboos prevail

Inbreeding… Ignoring incest taboos, generations begin to become defected… and die off

What can we learn? Globalization= increasing worldwide interdependence Oil, for instance What would happen if trade broke down with major sources of import?