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Nelson Historical Society Journal, Volume 3, Issue 5, October 1979

[section]

page 40

This paper briefly outlines those aspects of achaeological research which have been undertaken in the Tasman Bay area*. While the Nelson area has been fortunate in both locally and academically motivated historical research which has provided a more than adequate documentation of European settlement, there has been only sparodic archaeological and ethnological research into its prehistoric period. The region lacks a tertiary institution involved in archaeological and ethnological research. The museum has to a limited extent been able to fill this gap. Distance from other institutions poses logistical problems for a research discipline working with a small budget. The region has been fortunate in local amateur individuals of considerable enthusiasm. The efforts of these people have provided a core of data supplemented from time to time by research initiated from beyond the region. With the establishment of the Archaeological Division of the Historic Places Trust and the passing of the Historic Places Trust Amendment Act 1975, further research in this area will be initiated, and archaeological sites more effectively protected.

Rather than offer a chronological statement of archaeological and ethnological research in the Tasman Bay area, various aspects of prehistoric research will be discussed separately. This is largely dictated by the fact that most information is derived from published sources. Discussion will be grouped under the following headings: artifact studies, site surveying, excavations, midden analysis, lithic studies, rock carvings.