A ring-ditch pā on the Iahar plain of the lower slopes of Mount Taranaki

Where the ridge or hilltop was rounded and not very steep, as on this lahar mound, the ditch, bank and palisade might encircle the whole of the hilltop, giving rise to the 'ring-ditch'. This type of pā is particularly common in Taranaki where there are soft, easily worked soils. At the time of occupation the flat country between the lahar mounds would have been swamp. Such ring-ditch pā also occur frequently in the Bay of Plenty and Northland.