AUTUMN 2020
CANTERBURY
Mangahawea excavation reveals new insights The latest archaeological excavation at Mangahawea Bay in Northland’s Bay of Islands has reinforced the site’s significance as a place that was continually settled and gardened from the 1300s to the late 19th century. The three excavations in 2017, 2019 and in January this year were undertaken by the Arakite Charitable Trust with support from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, the Department of Conservation and the universities of Otago and Auckland. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland Archaeologist and excavation director, Dr James Robinson, says evidence, artefacts and other information found in the January excavation give new insights into the distinct nature of this particular archaeological site. “This place is unusual in that it has been continuously occupied and cultivated from the time of the earliest Polynesian settlers through to historic times when Māori lived here in 1898,” he says.
Archaeologists record details of findings from one of the excavated trenches at Mangahawea Bay. (CREDIT: HERITAGE NEW ZEALAND POUHERE TAONGA)
“It’s remarkable that this land was gardened throughout this time. The excavation CONTINUED OVER >
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