Polynesian explorers settled on a group of freezing sub-Antarctic islands in the 13th century after a “mind-blowing” voyage across the Southern Pacific Ocean, archaeologists have discovered.

Scientists found stone tools, waste mounds and dog bones on the small island of Enderby in the uninhabited Auckland archipelago, one of the most remote and forbidding spots on the planet.

Professor Christian Turney, the co-author of a study that has been published in the journal Archaeology in Oceania: “It’s mind blowing… you have this incredible group of explorers sailing in a twin hull canoe and navigating these wild seas.” 

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “How they did it is just an extraordinary feat of navigation.”