Deserted IslandThese basalt stone tools from Pitcairn Island are mute clues to one of the Pacific’s enduring mysteries – why did the original Polynesian inhabitants abandon the place? By the time Europeans encountered Pitcairn the first inhabitants were long gone. Yet between about 1000 and 1500 AD their culture was advanced enough to produce high quality tools such as these, without parallel in Polynesia, of which the museum holds a large collection, currently being researched. What caused the first Pitcairners to leave or the settlement to fail? Was it that voyaging between islands slowed so much after the first wave of discovery and migration that small, isolated islands could no longer support a human population? If only stone could speak.
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Join Dr Tom Trnski, Research Manager and John Early, Curator of Entomology and get closer to the stories, tales and historical information for this unique collection of objects.
Click to listen or
to save to your computer or media player - right click link and select "Save Target As" (3.14 mb). Download before you visit the Museum.
Download the Audio Tour Transcript (pdf 152kb) |
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Explore Secrets Revealed objects and listen to their stories |
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