Necker Island is a tiny (barely 41 acres), steep-sided and barren volcanic presence lying some 393 miles northwest of Honolulu. Far from being the Pacific ideal of white sand beaches and waving palms, it is bleak and inhospitable in appearance. Rainfall is barely 25 inches a year; the only vegetation is low-growing shrubs and dessicated bunch grass.

Why would early Polynesians choose to live there? And how, after scratching out a living from such meager resources, would they have the time and energy to create numerous stone platforms and terraces, stone bowls, adzes, sinkers and the exquisite stone images for which Necker is most famous? The archeological sites with which Necker is dotted represent a prodigious amount of man hours, particularly for such a small island.

From a Western point of view, Necker is indeed something of a wasteland, and would appear to offer little in the way of a living. But for the early Polynesians who settled there, it might have represented something quite different. Necker had at least one almost unlimited resource, for it was the home of thousands of birds, whose eggs during breeding season littered the ground like so much confetti at a wedding. With a superabundance of eggs, plump young chicks, and marine resources that were not impossible to access, Necker was perhaps more bountiful than we could ever imagine.

We will probably never know whether Necker was a permanent settlement or more of a way station for fishermen, birders, or navigators. The stone constructions and images there indicate that whoever was there either came in large numbers or at least over an extended period of time.

The stone platforms bear a striking resemblance to the marae of the Tuamotos and the Society Islands. The stone statues, however, present their own mystery. Found together on a sacred platform and carved from grey basalt with exaggerated large round heads, popping eyes, large mouths and protruding ears and standing between ten and 12 inches high (29cm), they have at different times been various ascribed to an early Hawaiian culture, to the mythological Hawaiian menehunes and even to an archaic Marquesan connection. Certainly the upright stance and the arms separated from the body is mirrored in numerous historic Hawaiian wood carvings. But if, in fact, they are examples of an archaic style, it is curious that similar statues have not been foundon other Hawaiian islands. The statues do bear more than a passing resemblance to historical Marquesan architectural stone figures of a type that are still to be found integrated as architectural elements in the walls of many ancient stone terraces. Given the adventuresome nature of the early Polynesians and the striking similarities between the statues of Necker and the Marquesas, this hypothesis may not be entirely inappropriate. Another possible explanation for the presence of Polynesians on Necker is that a lost or outcast group settled there, and in their isolation developed their own idiosyncratic version of a revered ancestor figure. Radiocarbon dating of Necker Island sites would probably be of great assistance in fixing a chronological time frame to Necker Island settlement and perhaps help to answer the question of provenance.

Necker Island was discovered by La Perouse in 1786, at which time it was found to be uninhabited. Hawaiians apparently had no knowledge of Necker's history and could provide no information pertaining to its former inhabitants.

Six stone figures from Necker Island were collected in May 1894 by the Iwalani annexation expedition under the command of Captain J.A. King. They are now in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Four other figures were retrieved in September 1894 by a landing party from H.B.M.S. Champion, commanded by Captain Rooke. Two are now in the British Museum in London. Possibly additional figures were collected, but there is little documentation by which to track down their whereabouts or collection date.

Necker Island is today a protected bird reserve and officially part of the City and County of Honolulu.

Recommended Reading - Necker Island

Either I'm not tapped into the right resources or material on Necker Island is rather thin on the ground..

The most complete work that I know of is "Archaeology of Nihoa and Necker Island," by K.P. Emory, published in 1928 as Bulletin 53 by the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. It is fairly extensive and has some interesting graphics but has little substantiating material to back up his speculations on the possible origins of the Necker Island settlers. Emory notes the close similarity of Necker Island ceremonial constructions to those of the Society Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago and also a possible Hawaiian and/or Marquesan connection. Most of Emory's observations on Necker Island archeological sites are extrapolated from the 1896 Tanager Expedition. This publication is obviously rather difficult to obtain in the original but possibly available from Kraus Reprint in New York @ Periodical Service Co. ; 11 Main St. Germantown; New York, N.Y. 12526

"Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archeology and Prehistory," published by University of Hawaii Press in 1985. Pages 94 to 98 contain a map of Necker Island, photographs of artefacts and also of four of the famous stone figures plus a photograph of the island from the sea, which looks mighty bleak! The Necker Island text is short but informative

"American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain," by Edwin H. Bryan, Jr. was published by Tongg Publishing Company, Honolulu, Hawaii in 1942. The author spent five days on Necker and apparently was not enthralled. A nice lucid account, however, is found on pages 171 through 174, with a good description of the island and useful historical details. Illustrated with a map and more bleak vistas of Necker.