A Long Overdue Update!

Hi All,

It has certainly been a busy last couple of months, and an update to this blog is well and truly overdue!

As I noted in my last post, in May I was given the opportunity to work fulltime as an archaeological assistant monitoring the first stage of a construction project here in Dunedin - my first paid archaeological work experience! 

Here is an update on the project, focusing on the archaeology!

Since the work at the Emerson's Brewery site has finished I've been doing a bit of travelling (and attending a couple of archaeology conferences to justify the time spent away from my thesis!)

In late June I visited the Bay of Islands in northern New Zealand to attend the annual New Zealand Archaeological Association Conference in Waitangi. There's plenty of history in the region - the Bay of Islands was a hotbed of early Māori and European interaction.

Visiting the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the much maligned Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on February the 6th, 1840. The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement drawn up between representatives of the British Crown on the one hand and representatives of Māori iwi and hapū on the other, paving the way for formalised British settlement of New Zealand. However, Māori and Europeans had differing understandings and expectations of the treaty, the ramifications of which are still being felt today. Photo taken by author.

Christ Church, the oldest church building in New Zealand. The town of Russell (Māori Name: Kororāreka) is situated across the bay from Waitangi. The church building still bears the scars of an early falling out between the British Crown and northern Māori chiefs over the Treaty of Waitangi (the 'Northern War' of 1845-46), with damage from musket fire still evident. Photos taken by author.

Russell was also the location of the early establishment of a French Catholic mission to New Zealand. The Pompallier Mission was established on land purchased by Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pompallier in 1839, which likely added some impetus to the drawing up of the Treaty of Waitangi! The building in this photo is the original printery building (built in 1842), where church texts translated into Māori were printed and bound. Photo taken by the author.

This was followed in early July by a trip to the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, three hours flight north of Auckland, New Zealand, for the 8th International Lapita Conference in Port Vila. It was my first time in Vanuatu, and I loved it! 

The 'Lapita Cultural Complex' is the name given to an archaeological 'signature' (i.e. the material remains of past human activity) that appeared in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea around 3,300 years ago. It is associated with the first known movement by humans into 'Remote Oceania' - the region to the east and south beyond the main Solomon Island chain (including Vanuatu). The 'Lapita people' are widely regarded as being, at least in part, the ancestors of today's Polynesians.

The presently known areal extent of the Lapita Cultural Complex. Source Image here.

The Lapita Cultural Complex includes ceramic pottery, a range of other stone and shell artefacts, and a range of domesticated species of flora and fauna (plants and animals) originating from South East Asia and New Guinea. Perhaps not too surprising when you see the following photos, it is the ceramic pottery that tends to get the most attention (although I feel obligated to note that the majority of Lapita pots are not decorated - what archaeologists call plainware).

A reconstructed Lapita pot currently on display at the Vanuatu National Cultural Centre. Photos taken by author.

    

To finish off, here are a few pictures from Vanuatu (just 'cos!):

Overlooking Teouma Bay, Efate. Arrow indicates the approximate location of the site that has made the bay famous in Pacific archaeology circles - a Lapita-age cemetery complex. 

A couple of stimulating conferences that have added a bit more fuel to the fire that is my passion for archaeology!

Thanks for reading!