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.
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.
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.