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41:The Matira Site
Previous posts on 8th, 15th and 28th January covered a little about the Matria site. This is where the incised rocks came from that are still at Turangawaewae Marae and included two special designs shown below. Matria is where the story of the cave of the tall ones first started except many said it was Waikaretu. In fact the contractor advises that story was actaully about Matira Rd.
Any more are unlikely to be left or they are covered with lichen, moss or rolled over. However many of the basalt columns have circular holes that penetrate anywhere from one to three centimeters into the stone. One particular column makes a sound when struck unlike any other in the area and is of a slightly different colour. What does this mean? Nothing unless your imagination makes it so, or maybe it is something but we won't state anything as a fact that cannot be proven either way. There are three suspect rocks and photos of five are shown below. The second one looks like a peace sign which I thought funny. Keep in mind that if they are anything of note, they could be 750-1300 years old and most are already well worn by constant weathering since the forest covered was removed (except were we exposed what was partially buried...).
I'm the last person to suggest things that might not be there and are just natural formations or damage but below are two sketches I've made of the first and last rock pictured. Excuse the quality.
We will provide more later when we have time to investigate the whole area and provide some photos of those rocks at the Marae.
