Researchers Uncover New Evidence that Tetiaroa was Exclusive Site for Tahitian Chiefs

In the 1960s, Marlon Brando fell in love with Tetiaroa - as well as his on-screen love interest - while filming Mutiny on the Bounty in Tahiti, prompting him to purchase the island and spend years working to understand and protect it. But, Brando wasn’t the first to recognize Teti'aroa’s exquisite natural beauty.

Recent findings from Dr. Guillaume Molle, an Australian National University archaeologist, reveal the strongest evidence yet that the island was the exclusive preserve of the Tahitian chiefly family in the 18th century, thus confirming oral traditions and early westerners accounts. The researchers mapped two rarely-seen archery platforms and a huge open-air temple, used for ceremonial purposes and ritual offerings. They are among 115 important structures they have mapped.