Summer 2025
Just before Christmas break Eliza Thompson, Te Kiriwai Murphy-Fell and Josie Hagan monitored earthworks near Lake Repongaere in Gisborne under HNZPT Authority No. 2025/204 for a building platform just south of archaeological site Y18/322 (Pit/Terrace). The excavations did not reveal any archaeological features (much to Te Kiriwai’s disappointment) but instead showed that the house site had been previously modified by machining, probably associated with a nearby fence line. However, the nearby visible features of the archaeological site remain intact and in good condition and will be protected by the property owner.
After the Christmas break Te Kiriwai and Josie monitored works for power pylon foundation strengthening at Lake Matahina, near Whakatāne under Authority No. 2025/236. The site was at the northern end of a ridge, with recorded pā V15/31 located 550 metres south on the same landform. The excavations revealed two in-filled pits, now recorded as site V15/357 (Pit/Terrace). The presence of the pits indicates that occupation of the landform encompassed the area north of the visible features associated with the pā, and evidence of this occupation remains intact despite the previous disturbance associated with the power pylon construction. The pits have been capped and are intact subsurface.
February was fieldwork rich for Eliza, Te Kiriwai and Josie as they travelled to Tairāwhiti for a busy trip consisting of two archaeological surveys for marae relocation projects. Several marae in Tairāwhiti and Hawkes Bay were severely impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, and in some cases the marae are being moved to provide greater security against future weather events. The Tairāwhiti trip also included a pre-start archaeological briefing for forestry harvesting which provided Te Kiriwai with the opportunity to see a fabulous intact ditch on Pā Y17/312, and two archaeological surveys ahead of afforestation in Tiniroto, which identified a newly recorded pā (X18/52). Later in the month the team went to Raglan for a day of surveying archaeological sites around Te Akau ahead of afforestation and identified four new pit and terrace sites (R14/471, R14/472, R14/473 and R14/474).
As February drew to a close, we said ‘haere ra’ to two of our InSitu whānau team, at least for now. Te Kiriwai has finished her internship with us and has returned to Waikato University to complete her final year of study. Josie has also left us, after five years, as she is moving to Canada where she will be embarking on new adventures in archaeology and life.