50 degrees south and discover its hidden secrets The story of
Campbell Island is also the story of the Island’s human history
from historical accounts and historic sites. We aim to search
for evidence of pre-European contact; review existing sources of
Campbell Island history, search for new historic sites and
assess their status and future management requirements; document
the history, scale, and impact of historic sealing and whaling.
No one is sure when the outlying islands of the New Zealand
region were first occupied by people. Research has found up to
650 year old settlement sites of Maori origin on some other
Subantarctic Island. Was Campbell Island also discovered much
earlier than 1810? Archaeological investigation of coastal
locations and rock shelters suited to human habitation may
provide the answer and shed light on the limits of Polynesian
voyaging. The stories of sealers, whalers and farmers tell us of
a turbulent and hard life that was carved out on the stormy
shores of Campbell Island. For th