History of The Pitcairn Islands - Pitcairn Before The Bounty

Pitcairn Before The Bounty

When the Bounty mutineers arrived on Pitcairn, it was uninhabited. However, they found the remains of an earlier Polynesian culture that had since vanished. Archaeologists believe that Polynesians lived on the island from the 11th to the 15th century. These first Pitcairners seem to have operated a trading relationship with the more populous island of Mangareva, 250 miles to the west, in which food was exchanged for the high quality rock and volcanic glass available on Pitcairn. It is not certain why this society disappeared, but it is probably related to the deforestation of Mangareva and the subsequent decline of its culture; Pitcairn was not capable of sustaining large numbers of people without a relationship with other populous islands.

Thus, the island was uninhabited when it was discovered by Spain by the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós in January 1606. It was rediscovered by the British in 1767, and named after the crew member who first spotted the island.