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Ngā Tohuwhenua Mai Te Rangi: A New Zealand Archeology in Aerial Photographs

[introduction]

Hawke's Bay has five main areas with a history of dense pre-European Māori settlement. From north to south, these are the Māhia Peninsula; the Wairoa River, a tributary of which runs into the hill country to Lake Wai-karemoana, and the coastal plain which runs east to Māhia Peninsula; the Hawke Bay coastal plains and the river valleys which run into the bay; the plains to the south of Hastings, including the areas around Lake Poukawa; and the coastal strip adjacent south of Cape Kidnappers along Ocean Beach. The region contains many important types of sites that can be illustrated by aerial photographs, including traditional sites, very large pā with major concentrations of pits such as Ōtātara near Taradale, pā and settlement on terrace landforms, and nineteenth-century sites including Armed Constabulary camps from the period after 1865.

Much of the northern and western part of the Hawke's Bay region is very steep and only settled in the immediate vicinity (within 1 km) of the principal rivers. However, on the Mōhaka River, sites are infrequent compared with the neighbouring Wairoa River. The paucity of open valley-floor flood plains along the Mōhaka is probably the main reason for this disparity.

From Hawke's Bay south and inland, the hill country, especially to the south of the main river plains, is generally less steep than in the north. The hill country is drained by three principal rivers, the Tūtaekurī, Ngaruroro and the Tukituki. These follow narrow valleys even in the low hill country, until they emerge on to the coastal plain, 5 to 15 km from the sea. The rivers carry a lot of silt and gravel, and flood frequently. Unlike the Gisborne area, there appears to have been little settlement on the river flats themselves, with more settlement on the surrounding low hill country. This is prob- page break
Pa at Ocean Beach, just to the south of Cape Kidnappers

Pa at Ocean Beach, just to the south of Cape Kidnappers

The site consists of a small promontory about 40 m long by 15 m wide, possibly an older dune remnant. The site is defended by a transverse ditch and bank set at the foot of the main hillslope. The pits inside the pā suggest a large area of gardening on dune soils that were stable and fertile at the time of occupation. The pits are up to 5 m long. At the time of occupation, the site would have lain amongst coastal forest both on the dunes and the hill slopes. The dune vegetation, however, would have been easily destroyed by fire. Beach-front erosion has been marked and dunes were blown inland in recent times.

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Distant view of the pā at the north end of Ocean Beach

Distant view of the pā at the north end of Ocean Beach

The pā (bottom left) is at the foot of the coastal face of a large hill, with dissected terrace country running north to the vicinity of Te Awanga. A low-lying ridge has been defended by a single ditch and bank with many raised-rim pits within the defended perimeter. The view is to the north-west.

page 156 ably the result of the very active flooding and silt deposition over the greater proportion of these river plains throughout the last millennium. There are pā and many associated storage pit complexes on the hills running inland from Taradale and the Ōtātara Historic Reserve. The sides of the very extensive plains to the south-west are drained by smaller rivers running through formerly swampy ground at the foot of the hill country. Lake Poukawa is at the head of one of these streams towards the south-west of the plains, and formed the centre of a district closely settled in pre-European times. Pā in this district at Te Hauke and Pakipaki were illustrated in chapters 1 and 2. Much further inland, in areas with little or no settlement, there were inland trade routes from Hawke's Bay to the central North Island and the Rangitikei River.