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Prehistoric Maori Fortifications in the North Island of New Zealand
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Fox, Aileen Mary Henderson Lady |
| Copyright Year | 1976 |
| Abstract | PROFESSIONAL archaeological techniques were first applied in New Zealand by Jack Golson some twenty years ago. Despite the considerable amount of careful excavation and systematic survey that has been carried out since then, much of the information and many of the wider problems revealed by this work remain unknown outside the world of the active practitioners. To some extent, the fault lies with them: field reports if written up at all remain mostly in an interim form, intelligible only to the initiated. Even academic articles are few and far between. Discussion (often very provocative) and knowledge of New Zealand prehistory is mostly passed on in the form o f ' o r a l tradition' . Aileen Fox's little book on the Maori fortifications therefore fills a conspicuous gap: it is a lucid introductory survey of the dominant prehistoric sites in the land. Based on both field work and historical documentat ion, it indicates what can be done. One hopes that this beginning will soon be expanded upon by others. Lady Fox had a year at her disposal in which to tackle some of the published primary material of early Ness Zealand history. She also carried out her own excavations at Te Awanga pa at Hawke 's Bay. The result is a functional analysis of the pa structures, both as defence systems and as residential units. The evidence — archaelogical and descriptive reveals a high degree of community organization and recognizable group leadership. The early nineteenth-century visitors had no difficulties in identifying the major chiefs of the communities which they visited, even though commenta tors like Augustus Earle (1827-28) also added that each free man considered himself equal with another and svas independent in his own family. The construction of the pa often reveal internal residential divisions demarcated by palisades and sometimes separate food storage systems, both suggestive of distinctive whanau groupings within the larger community which had co-operated to build the pa. A hierarchical social structure is certainly suggested, however challengable by skill the position of the higher chiefs may well have been. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ww1.gruporojasformacion.com/images-for-prehistoric-maori-fortifications-in-the-north-island-of-new-zealand.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://dhaze.co.uk/prehistoric/maori/prehistoric_maori_fortifications_in_the_north_island_of_new_zealand_.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/1977/NZJH_11_1_12.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
