Archaeological findings on early New Zealanders and Maori culture

Whanganui River valley

Some very interesting biological archaeology finds have been published from research conducted at the University of Otago, New Zealand. The research looked at the human remains, known as koiwi tangata, of early New Zealanders who traveled to the Malborough region 700 years ago.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130516105700.htm

Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Ngāuruhoe, Mt. Tongariro

Though the article covers the complexities of carbon ratios, dietary makeup, and isotopes gauged from the remains, aside from the deeper scientific importance, of key interest to me were the archaeological materials found in the graves of three different groups. The evidence suggested that the groups were hunter gatherers who possibly used the burial site at Wairau Bar as a ceremonial place. The burials themselves were very telling about one group in particular, from the position of internment to the grave goods discovered, such as whale bone and moa eggs. It is possible the findings ‘may represent the roots of the tangihanga ritual, in which Maori are buried in their ancestral lands, developing among these first New Zealanders’.

Koriniti marae

The Maori practice of the tangihanga, or tangi, takes place on the marae or family home and acts as the ceremonial remembrance for ancestors who have passed away. The ceremony allows families to gather to remember the deceased and commemorate the dead. During the tangi, photographs are placed around the body and both the visual images of ancestral kin and the body are addressed as if they were living. This embodiment of life within pictures and the objects of importance to the deceased, displays the significance of objects to community memory. These archaeological findings have wider importance to understandings of early Polynesian life both socially and culturally.

Auckland, New Zealand