Pā and pits on old dune country near Aotea Harbour

Up to four pā may be detected on this photograph. The largest of the pā (centre right), Manuaitu, is 600 m long and composed of six different defended segments. The photograph was taken in March 1944. The lines across the centre of the photograph are scratches on the positive transparency copy from which this photograph was prepared. Borrow-pits for sand show as depressions on the ridges about the pā. The sand was probably laid as a mulch over garden soils. Most of the gardening is somewhat away from the coast; there are few pits closer than 800 m to the beach, probably because the prevailing south-west winds prevented horticulture in those areas. Storage pits occur near or within the pā perimeter, but they have an irregular (not rectangular) shape in plan because of the action of stock breaking down the crust of hard sand through which the pits were originally dug. Ditch and bank fences near the house above Schnackenberg Bay can be seen more clearly. The fences may be the original ditch and bank fences of Schnackenberg's farm.