Pigtails may be from HMS Bounty mutineers

DNA tests could prove that seven pigtails kept in a 19th-century tobacco tin belonged to the infamous mutineers on HMS Bounty, the first physical evidence of the men’s existence.

While the story of the mutiny against Captain William Bligh by his disaffected crew in the South Pacific in 1789 is famous, the only tangible evidence of those who hid from justice on the remote Pitcairn Islands is the grave of mutineer John Adams.

But scientists at King’s College London hope tests on strands of hair can eventually link the 10 pigtails to seven of the mutinous sailors and three of their Polynesian companions.