The NRD Site Community Report
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The NRD site Community report Matt hew Campbell and Beatrice Hudson Th e NRD site Community report Matt hew Campbell and Beatrice Hudson © CFG Heritage Ltd. 2011 CFG Heritage Ltd. P.O. Box 10 015 Dominion Road Auckland 1024 ph. (09) 309 2426 [email protected] Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Landscape, vegetation and climate 3 3 Traditional history 5 4 Th e archaeology of the Manukau 9 5 Archaeology 14 6 Dates 39 7 Environment 41 8 Taonga 42 9 Flaked stone 59 10 Mammal bone 63 11 Bird bone 66 12 Fish bone 68 13 Shell 72 14 Excavating and recording the koiwi 73 15 Th e burial population 78 16 How were they buried? 82 17 Disease and injury 95 18 Summary and discussion 107 19 Conclusion: memory and identity 114 Glossary 117 References 118 Appendix: Individual descriptions 123 i ii Th e Northern Runway Development excavations have been fully reported in two technical reports, one dealing with the archaeology, the other with the koiwi. Th is community report summarises the technical reports, and is written in non-technical language. It is designed to be accessible to the interested lay person, including tangata whenua of Pukaki and Makaurau Marae, whose ancestors lived and were buried at the site and for whom this report is pri- marily written. Th e authors of the various chapters of the technical reports are Matthew Campbell, Arden Cruickshank, Louise Furey, Jaden Harris, Stuart Hawkins and Beatrice Hudson, with additional work by Mark Horrocks and Rod Wallace. Th is community report has been prepared by Matthew Campbell (site director) and Beatrice Hudson (osteologist). Th e excavation team consisted of Matthew Campbell (Director), Jaden Harris (Assistant Director), Beatrice Hudson (Osteologist), Ben Th orne (Surveyor), David Carley, Greg Gedson, Noel Hill, Raylene Reihana-Ruka and Colin Sutherland (both seasons); Malcolm Hutchinson, Christina Neale, Diana Nueweger, Craig Scott and Noirin Teahan (season 1); Arden Cruickshank, Mike Dickson, Glen Farley, Andrew Hoff mann, Ana Kim, Ben Pick, Ella Ussher, Shirley Wallace and Ollie Wigmore (season 2). Finds were sorted and catalogued by Raylene Reihana-Ruka and Jaden Harris. In addition, Christina Neale and Andrew Hoff mann assisted with midden analysis and Beatrice Hudson assisted with fi sh- bone analysis. Th anks to Judith Littleton for her comments and advice for the osteological recording and analysis. Seline McNamee drew the fi gures in Sections 15, 16 and 17. Our thanks to Franswa Jooste, Kevin Carr and John Dooley of Auckland Airport Ltd; Nick Adams of Beca Infrastructure Ltd; Liam McCaff rey, Peter van Heeswyk and Aisake Vaisima of Fulton Hogan; Doug Cockburn of Hick Brothers and his crew, particularly Caleb Gamble, Brent Bowler, Brian Webb and Wayne Miller; and Andrew Prince of Bob Hick Earthmoving. Th anks to Te Warena Taua, Saul Roberts and Janice Roberts of Makaurau Marae and to Julie Wade, Jim Rauwhero, Brownie Rauwhero, Karen Wilson, David Wilson and Paddy O’Driscoll of Pukaki Marae for their kindness, interest and support. iii iv Th 1 Introduction Communitye NRD report site: Th e pre-European Māori archaeological site at the western end of the Northern Runway Development at Auckland International Airport is recorded as site R11/859 in the New Zealand Archaeological Association site fi le. It was excavated in two seasons: 4 March–2 April 2008 and 29 September 2008–19 February 2009 under authority 2008/178 issued by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Th ere are several names associated with the general area in which R11/859 is located but the correct name for the site itself remains unclear. In this report it is referred to as the NRD site, which stands for Northern Runway Development. As mana whenua continue to research their own history it is hoped that the correct name will become known in the future. Th e site is made up of nine ‘Areas.’ Areas A–E were on the sandy beach terrace which was up to 60 m wide, while Areas F–I were on a higher terrace above a 7 m high bluff . Each Area consisted of a distinct cluster of archaeological features separate from other clusters. Excavation in March 2008 began in the Areas F and G on the bluff before moving down to the fi ve Areas on the beach terrace. Human bone was exposed in Area A during earthworks and it quickly became clear that several bodies were interred on site and that these were Māori in origin, almost certainly pre-European. Bone was also found in Area B. Excavation 1 Introduction 1. Location of the NRD site; the red rectangle outlines the area shown in Figure 4. Other archaeological sites recorded in the general area are also shown. 1 Th Communitye NRD report site: continued in order to establish the nature and extent of the burials. Following consulta- tion with Auckland International Airport Ltd and tangata whenua excavation resumed in September 2008, initially completing the excavation of Areas H and I on the bluff before moving down to Areas A and B to disinter the burials. Before describing the archaeology and the excavation and analysis of the koiwi it is worth examining the wider context. Th is includes the environment, which is the source of the vari- ous resources that were available to pre-European Māori, whether wood to build houses or stone to make tools, marine resources such as fi sh and shellfi sh, or the soils that were gar- dened. Another important aspect of the site’s context is the traditional history of the general Tāmaki/Manukau area, for which there is considerable, though at times confl icting, evi- dence. Understanding the movements of pre-European Māori across the landscape and the social and political situation at the time the NRD site was occupied helps explain particular patterns observed in the archaeology. Finally, much important archaeology has been carried out in South Auckland, though at times patchily and incompletely reported, and lacking a comprehensive overview. An archaeological understanding of the NRD site must place it within the archaeological record of the wider area. 1 Introduction 2 Th 2 Landscape, vegetation and climate Communitye NRD report site: Th e Tāmaki isthmus, on which the modern city of Auckland is centred, is between 1 and 11 km in width and separates the Waitemata Harbour to the north from the Manukau Harbour to the south. While not all of Tāmaki is volcanic in origin the volcanic cones domi- nate the landscape. Th e Auckland volcanic eldfi fi rst erupted more than 50,000 years ago (Ballance 1993: 10). Maungataketake (Ellet’s Mountain), 1 km from the site and the origin of the volcanic soils covering much of it, is only a little younger (Homer et al. 2000: 24). Beneath these soils, and forming the main soil for much of the Manukau lowlands, is a rich alluvium originating in the volcanic Central Plateau of the North Island and transported by the Waikato River at a time when it fl owed to the sea through the Manukau (Ballance 1993: 9; Searle 1964: 30). Auckland’s vegetation prior to human arrival was dominated by climax forest, of which there are substantial remnants in the Waitākere and Hunua ranges (Cameron and Morton 1993) and smaller remnants in the city itself. Much of this forest was a podocarp or mixed podocarp/broadleaf forest. Such forest would originally have been located over much of the runway development although it would have been dominated more by broadleaf and pohutu- kawa closer to the coast. Auckland’s climate is warm and temperate, dominated by the marine environment. Annual rainfall averages 1200–1600 mm with the possibility of strong storms and hail. Drought is uncommon but soil moisture defi cits occur in 90% of summers. Average tem- peratures range up to 24°C, with a recorded maximum (in 1872 and again in 2009, on a day when we were excavating) of 32.4°C. Winters are mild though frosts are not uncommon. Th e city experiences an annual average of 2100 hours of sunshine. Humidity is high and fogs occur at Auckland Airport on average 15 days per year (Hurnard 1979). Th e combination of productive soils and mild climate made much of the Tāmaki region attractive for pre-European Māori horticulture, with the main constraints being soil drain- age, which is necessary for kumara cultivation, and humidity, which can promote fungal disease. 2.1 Local environment and resources 2 and climate vegetation Landscape, Th e Northern Runway Development area consists of low, gently rolling land with shallow gullies draining north into a small stream that fl ows west to the Manukau Harbour. Th e stream is swampy further inland, and would probably have been more so in pre-European times. Pollen coring shows the swamp developing prior to the forest being burnt by Māori. Th e site was situated at the western end of the runway on the edge of Manukau Harbour and south of the stream. To the north west, towards Renton Road, the coast is characterised by a low mudstone bank running into low cliff s. To the south east, towards the present inter- national runway, the situation is the same although the cliff s beyond the end of the coastal terrace rise to heights between 10–15 m above mean sea level. On the bluff the topsoil is 250–300 mm deep, overlying clays derived from Maungataketake ash to depths of 2–3 m, in turn overlying alluvial silts and sands (Ricketts 1977; see also Purdie 1981). Th ese soils were stone free, in contrast to the archaeological landscape further to the north and west towards Maungataketake and the Otuataua stonefi elds, which are characterised by lava outcrops and younger, less weathered, stony soils (Furey 2007).