Archaeological evidence suggests that a small permanent Polynesian settlement existed on Henderson at some time between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. The reasons, why the group disappeared from the island are unknown. At about the same time, Polynesians also left Pitcairn Island. The group on Henderson would have depended on the group on Pitcairn for many things of daily life; there's no stone suitable for making tools on Henderson. The Pitcairn Polynesians may in turn have disappeared because of the decline of nearby Mangareva; Henderson was at the end of a chain of small, dependent colonies of Mangareva.