A treasure trove of history
An archaeological dig in the Bay of Islands has uncovered further evidence of one of the earliest sites of human habitation in New Zealand.
Archaeologists, hapu¯ members and volunteers spent two weeks digging pits at Mangahawea Bay, on Moturua Island, down to the ground level of about 700 years ago. They found everything from a British Navy button to fish hooks carved from moa bone and a ta¯ moko chisel.
One of the most exciting finds, however, was the least impressive visually — a series of indentations in a former stream bed that could have been a taro garden. If the archaeologists’ hunch is confirmed it could be the oldest garden found in New Zealand, and the only one from the first century or so after Ma¯ori arrived.
Department of Conservation ranger Andrew Blanshard said other finds included obsidian thought to come from Mayor Island, plenty of moa and seal bones, and evidence that fish hooks were manufactured there.
The ta¯ moko chisel, which retained traces of ink, had most likely been discarded because some of the teeth were broken.
“This has the potential to be a really significant site. If this is the first generation, it really does link the site back to the Pacific and confirms the ko¯rero Matu [kauma¯tua Matutaera Clendon] has given us,” he said.
The archaeologists hadn’t found many structures, but they had uncovered storage pits with post holes, probably for supporting rafters, as well as cooking fires and extensive gardens.
Excavation director James Robinson, of Heritage NZ, said one of the goals had been to understand the structure of the village at Mangahawea Bay.
The people who arrived in New Zealand were part of an organised migration from somewhere in the MarquesasSociety Islands-Cook Islands area, and sites like Mangahawea could shed light on how they adapted from life on small tropical islands to land with a seasonal climate, full of seals and flightless birds.
The Arakite Trust project was funded by Lottery’s Tuia-Encounters 250 programme and brought together Heritage NZ, DoC and Otago and Auckland universities.