Spring-Summer 2022
September was a busy month for the InSitu Heritage team, as we continued the assessment for the proposed Te Araroa Barging Port project with a Section 56 exploratory investigation. The works were undertaken over two days alongside kaitiaki and interested members of the community. No archaeological features were identified within the project footprint.
We also undertook an excavation of a proposed subdivision at Hamurana on the northern shore of Lake Rotorua. Prior to assessment there were no recorded sites on the property. A section 56 exploratory investigation had revealed evidence of buried features, so a full investigation was carried out under an authority from Heritage New Zealand (authority no. 2023/004). The excavation yielded interesting results, with multiple pit complexes containing both rectangular and rua pits, clear evidence of two different types of culturally modified soils: and unfortunately, also unearthed the former SPCA pet graveyard!
Read more about our mahi at Hamurana in our case studies
September was finished off with fieldwork in Gisborne District, with Josie undertaking surveys of Kopua and Mangahauini Forests prior to harvest. The Mangahauini block had no recorded sites prior to survey, and nine new sites have now been added to ArchSite (Y16/98, Y16/99, Y16/100, Y16/101, Y16/102, Y16/103, Y16/104, Y16/105 & Z16/256). In Kopua Forest on-going harvesting activity is being done with an archaeological authority in place. The Gisborne trip finished up with an inspection of post-1900 bottle dumps at the Olympic Pool Re-development, adjacent to the former Gisborne Gaol.
Image right: One of the pits identified in Maungahauini, recorded as Y16/103
November saw the team of Andy, Hinemaia and Josie undertaking an excavation at Paerata Ridge near Ōpōtiki on the former property of long standing NZAA member Dave White, under authority no. 2020/318. The excavation was near the locally well known ‘gateway midden’ (W15/188). The excavation exposed a series of small pits and obsidian flakes. The interim report is available in the Heritage New Zealand digital library.
