Archaeology of the Bay of Plenty Include: • the Low Frequency of Archaic Sites
operated from 1882 to 1914, with a final effort in the late 1930s. Tramways (several recorded under T13) and aerial ropeways moved the ore from mines to the batteries. Major batteries included the Crown, Woodstock and Talisman (T13/186), but there were other smaller ones as well. The batteries were water-powered (Fig. 20) with water drawn from dams on both the Waitawheta and the Ohinemuri Rivers. Later, power was provided by a coal-fired power house, some of which was used to run dewatering pumps for the deeper levels of the mines. There is substantial archaeological evidence in the area. Many of the sites are recorded, but not mapped in detail. Hence, in the intensely used area near the junction Figure 20. Pelton wheel of the rivers, there is a mass of evidence at the Woodstock Battery, that is not easily resolved into different structures or periods of use. Some Karangahake; T13/289. metalwork, including a pelton wheel, remains in situ. The area is now a DOC reserve and some track development has taken place. However, most of the interpretation for visitors is on the north side of the Ohinemuri River, outside the Bay of Plenty Conservancy. The area is a substantial heritage resource and needs more archaeological mapping, resolution of the evidence to the particular historical structures, and further interpretation. A smaller operation was the Treasure Island Reef mine at the north end of Waihi Beach (Downey 1935: 249; Moore 1997). This operated from 1898 to 1910. The drives from this mine are currently used as part of a sewage outfall.
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