Sidestep: The Sacred Island

Motutapu (in the Hauraki Gulf of Auckland) is the low undulating island just behind Rangitoto. Although almost devoid of vegetation by the 1950’s, Motutapu was once covered in thick forest where long ago a small group had already survived for about 100 years, mainly through fishing. To the south, an old but small volcanic island (probably no bigger than Browns Island) erupted once more – right next to their new home. This small island was already about 6000 years old and the most recent eruption was only about 600 years old creating most of the height and spread of Rangitoto that we see today. The early Polynesian arrivals and those here before would have witnessed this volcano as it spewed ash out in four stages.

To imagine the sight, I've used some photos below to illustrate what this might look like, happening only 2km from where you live!

There is a site on western edge Motutapu that reveals humans being present, not just before - but between the ash falls. A village existed there called Puharakeke and in the early 1960’s excavation of the area by Rudi Sunde found evidence of habitation including bones of the extinct moa and crow. Then in 1981 they found footprints of a human being in hardened ash. The area is often referred to as the ‘Sunde site’. Below is an artist impression of before and during the eruption of this once pristine location.

The after effects would have been devastating to any village. We know the effects on the village near Lake Tarawera, but that village was known to Europeans prior to the eruption. This old site however, existed prior to the migrational canoes. Here are photos of the effects on modern locations. Imagine fleeing your village in a canoe and returning to this sort of scene...(click to enlarge)

Here is the location of the ash fall and a photo of the Sunde site as it is today with Rangitoto in the distance.

More recently a slab with 2 humans footprints and that of a kuri dog was found as coastal erosion revealed the hardened ash slab. That slab now resides at the Auckland Museum in the volcano hall.

Human and dog prints Human footprint

Few artefacts were found at Puharakek. This is because the locals abandoned the site and took almost everything but unfinished tools, but at the back of the beach, or possibly on the ridge, deep under the various ash layers, there are bound to be a few skeletons of those who were buried there before Rangitoto re-erupted and they would deep under the present layer. When ash falls from an eruption there is often rain that descends with it making it wet and sloppy underfoot. It is likely that after such a fall, those from the small village returned to the site to collect what was left behind as they fled the ongoing eruptions. We don’t know how big nor how fast the ash cloud spread and depending on the wind, ash would have been deposited in two directions.

But we now have physical evidence that a child, and adult and a kuri dog returned to the island together after one such fall. As ash cools it solidifies so these prints remained under successive falls until discovered recently in a 30cm think slab. The slab (above left) weighs about 250kg. The final bulk of Rangitoto is believed to have exploded into existence in the 14th century and the ash deposit on Motutapu was about 1m deep. Footprints had been found over about half a hectare. Some time after Rangitoto ceased activity, Motutapu once again became occupied. This time, because of the fertile soils, they were more into gardening. There are some 12 Pa and a total of 300 sites of interest now recorded on Motutapu, most on the top layer...(ie after the eruptions ceased). Keep in mind that prior to Rangitoto’s final activity 600 years ago, Motutapu was fully covered in thick native forest. Below is a photo of a site on the Manukau Harbour that shows how thick volcanic layers are over the pre-existing trees. Some of them are just stumps.

Ngati Tai were said to have been on Motutapu first - long before the Arawa and Tainui canoes are said to have arrived. Ngati Tai fled due to Honga Hiki slaughtering his thousands up and down the length of the country, but when Ngati Toi returned they remained on the island until they sold out in 1840 for what to them at the time were valued items.

The timing of the earliest Polynesian settlement of the New Zealand archipelago, the last substantial land mass in the world (outside polar regions) to be colonized by humans, has been controversial, partly because it has been so recent. Radiocarbon age data, potentially open to question because of likely contamination in lake sediments by in-washing of old carbon as a result of Polynesian deforestation activities, inbuilt age, or dietary effects, effectively resulted in two contradictory models of settlement: ‘early’ settlement about 1500-2000 years ago (Sutton 1987) versus ‘late’ settlement about 700 years ago (Anderson 1991). The earliest Polynesian settlement of New Zealand known to date is now dated at c. 1280 AD (at the Wairau bar).

The foot prints were found above the original occupation level. Our belief is that below various volcanic layers of this country there may be evidence of pre-Polynesian/Melanesian occupation going back possibly two thousand years. After all, their is the story of tools found below some 15 feet (4.5m) of layered material on the West Coast of the South Island. http://tangatawhenua16.wixsite.com/the-first-ones-blog/single-post/2017/01/31/87-Pre-Maori-evidence. This was a 'chert' adze, not a greywacke or pounamu one. This tool material (chert) predates that Polynesians found in use here. This is evidence others lived here long before Polynesians arrived but the whereabouts of those artifacts remains a mystery even though we have detailed sketches of them, as was the practice many years ago.

And what is in our cave is completely unaffected by any and all volcanic deposits. Ha ha. I can't wait!