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Wairau Bar Excavation Study |
 Senior Lecturer, Dr Hallie Buckley, is co-ordinating a research project studying human remains (koiwi tangata) which were excavated at the Wairau Bar near Blenheim over 70 years ago. The koiwi, formerly housed in the Canterbury Museum, will be studied by a team of academics and graduate students from the Department and within the University, before being returned to Iwi for reburial in the original excavation site. The research on the koiwi is part of a wider archaeological project involving the excavation of the site at the Wairau bar for the reburial of the koiwi. The archaeological component of the project is being directed by Associate Professor Richard Walter of the Anthropology Department.
The Wairau Bar is the site of a fourteenth century village occupied by some of the first generations of people to settle in New Zealand, and as such, is considered to be one of the most important archaeological sites in New Zealand. The material excavated provided conclusive evidence that New Zealand was originally settled by East Polynesians.
The project is run in partnership with Te Runanga a Rangitane o Wairau,
the Canterbury Museum, the Department of Conservation, and the
University of Otago. To learn more about the people who lived at the
site, their health, mortality rate and eating habits, Dr Buckley and
the team will be using scientific techniques not available when the
remains were originally excavated. These include ancient DNA and
isotope analysis, and radiocarbon dating.
“It is very exciting to be part of this archaeological study” Dr
Buckley says. “It is important that we have the opportunity to learn
more about the history and settlement of our own country, and also for
the tupuna (ancestors) to be return to their original resting place.”
To learn more about Dr Buckley’s research please click here .
Project Team members from this Department:
Dr Nancy Tayles
Dr Sian Halcrow
Mr John Dennison
Photo: Whale ivory and moa bone necklaces found with the koiwi from Wairau Bar. (source: Duff (1950))
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