T A N E 26, 1980

A R C H A E O L O G I C A L S I T E S O N M O T U I H E I S L A N D , A U C K L A N D

by Bruce W . H a y w a r d New Zealand Geological Survey, P.O. Box 30-368, Lower Hutt

S U M M A R Y

Thirty-s ix prehistoric archaeological sites are recorded from Motuihe Island, Auck land . These include only two pa sites - both on cliff-bound headlands. One pa is large wi th two lines of ditch defences which enclose a flat area of 4500m 2 , whereas the second is small wi th 120m 2 of flattened terrace within the single ditch defence. A further twelve sites contain pits which attest to the former popularity of the island for growing kumara. A l l the remaining sites are terraces wi th midden, or coastal shell middens.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Motuihe Island is in Waitemata Harbour, Auck land , being 4km east of Rangitoto, 2km south east of Motutapu and 3km west of Waiheke (Fig. 1). The island is T - shaped, 2.5km across the top of the T (N W - SE) and 2km down the shaft ( N E - SW). Motuihe has a number of sheltered sandy beaches separated by rocky coastal stretches wi th cliffs behind. A p a r t from these cliffs, most of the island is gentle rol l ing farmland. Today the island is part of the H a u r a k i Gul f Mar i t ime Park and is run as a farm park, w i th picnic areas and canteen faculties for summer visitors sited on the north west corner.

Previous archaeological studies on Motuihe consisted of a one day vis i t by a group from the A u c k l a n d Archaeological Society in 1963. This resulted in thirteen sites being recorded by Janet Davidson i n the N .Z . Archaeological Association's Record Fi le (N42/145 -157). The site survey on which this report is based was undertaken by me in Augus t 1979 during a three day stay on Motuihe.

European archaeological sites This report only deals wi th prehistoric sites, but there are

however, a large number of important European sites on Motuihe that resulted from the various uses i t was put to over the past 140 years.

Europeans purchased Motuihe in 1839 and after a succession of farmers i t was bought by the Crown in 1872 (Walsh 1937). The island became a quarantine station w i t h buildings on the north-west point and during the F i r s t W o r l d W a r these were used to intern prisoners of war. It was from Motuihe that Count Fel ix von Luckner made his

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famous escape in 1917 (Titchener 1978). In 1929 the quarantine station buildings were converted to a Children's Hea l th Camp and the rest of the island became a public domain. D u r i n g the Second Wor ld War , the Heal th Camp became a naval training base and it remained as such unti l 1963 when the whole island was reopened to the public.

M o s t of the north-west part of the island is covered wi th European

Fig. 1. Lower: Location of Motuihe Island in Waitemata Harbour, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand. Upper: Location of archaeological sites on Motuihe Island.

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terraces and midden, a network of sealed and shelled roads and the sites of numerous former buildings. European archaeological sites over the rest of the island to the south and east are mostly small and relate to farming activities.

A N N O T A T E D L I S T O F P R E H I S T O R I C S I T E S (Fig. 1)

Site numbers are those of the New Zealand Archaeological Association's Record Fi le . G r i d References (e.g. 447661) are from N Z M S 1 Sheet N42 , 3rd Ed i t i on , 1966.

N42/145 (446661) P A (Fig. 2). On Mangoparerua Point, 200m west of wharf. Three terraces (each c. 10 x 3m) and three pits (c. 3 x 1.5 x 0.1m); 3m wide, 2m deep ditch across point; abundant shell midden.

N42/146 (450667) M I D D E N . Te Tumurae Point. Mostly destroyed by European earthworks and small cemetery.

N42/147 (461658) M I D D E N . Eroding from behind east end of Takutairaroa Beach. N42/148 (464658) P A (Fig. 3). Te Raeokahu Point. Flat-topped point with several large

terraces and seventeen pits along the higher north west side; two large ditches. N42/149 (465655) M I D D E N . Eroding from west bank of stream mouth behind "Snapper Bay" . N42/150 (466655) M I D D E N . Eroding from behind east end of Snapper Bay. N42/151 (462645) M I D D E N . Beneath large flat at back of Ohinerau Beach. N42/152 (460644) PITS. Four indistinct pits (each 3 x 2 x 0.2m) on spur behind Ohinerau

Beach. N42/153 (457641) PITS. Five pits on ridge-top knoll above Te Whatutotangi Point

(largest 4 x 3 x 0.5m). N42/154 (456641) PITS. Several pits on low point between branches of stream behind

Ngatoikorapa Beach. N42/155 (454641) PITS and T E R R A C E S (Fig. 2). On ridge-top knoll, 100m south of

"Bald Knob". Six pits (largest 4 x 3 x lm); terrace and midden on west side. N42/156 (454642) PITS and T E R R A C E (Fig. 2). "Bald Knob". Summit platform with

two pits (largest 5 x 2.5 x 0.6m); terrace and midden on east side. N42/157 (457653) PITS. On flat-topped spur above south side of "Landing Bay" . Four

indefinite pits and patches of eroding midden. N42/908 (457652) PITS. On cliff-top spur, 50m south of N42/157. Three indefinite pits

(each 4 x 2 x 0.2m); large area of scattered midden. N42/909 (457651) PIT. On spur, 20m from cliff edge, 200m south of "Landing Bay" .

Single pit (4 x 3 x 0.1m); thick midden. N42/910 (449663) M I D D E N . Eroding from slopes above road to wharf. N42/911 (458659) M I D D E N . Eroding from edge of flat behind centre Takutairaroa

Beach. N42/912 (462658) M I D D E N . Eroding from cliff-top above west end of "Golden Bay" . N42/913 (468652) M I D D E N . Eroding from back of north end of Otamarau Beach. N42/914 (463648) M I D D E N . Large patch eroding from slopes above north side of stream

at north end of Ohinerau Beach. N42/915 (457639) M I D D E N . Underlies low flat point on east side of Ngatoikorapa

Beach. N42/916 (454640) M I D D E N . Eroding from edge of flat-topped point, west side of

Ngatoikorapa Beach. N42/917 (453641) M I D D E N . Eroding from north west slopes of point, 200m north west

of Ngatoikorapa Beach. N42/918 (453643) M I D D E N . Eroding from edge of small flat on point 200m north west

of "Bald Knob". 237

N42/145

N

pit

scarp

ditch

midden

5m

Fig. 2. Sketch plans of the small pa site (N42/145), and two pit and terrace sites (N42/155, 156) on Motuihe Island. N42/919 (455645) PITS and T E R R A C E S . On flat-topped spur, 300m north of "Bald,

Knob". Six pits on spur top (largest 5 x 2 x lm); four pits and terraces down west side.

N42/920 (453661) M I D D E N . Eroding from back of east end of Onehorahi Beach. N42/921 (452662) M I D D E N . Eroding from slopes behind middle of Onehorahi Beach. N42/922 (451663) M I D D E N . Eroding from back of west end of Takutairaroa Beach. N42/923 (455661) PITS. On cliff edge above middle of Takutairaroa Beach. Three,

possibly four pits (3 x 2 x 0.1m) N42/924 (457659) PIT. On cliff edge, 300m south east of N42/923. Single pit (3 x 2 x

0.3m) N42/925 (456654) M I D D E N . Eroding from around perimeter of terrace above north side

of "Landing Bay" . N42/926 (457650) PIT. On cliff edge, 150m south of N42/909. Single pit (3 x 2 x 0.3m). N42/927 (456648) M I D D E N / T E R R A C E S . In bush, 40m A S L and 100m north of

"Limestone Point". Several terraces with midden eroding around their edges.

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N42/928 (456648) M I D D E N . Eroding from cliff-top on edge of terrace, 50m north of "Limestone Point".

N42/929 (454645) T E R R A C E S and M I D D E N . On point, 300m north of "Bald Knob". Two terraces (each 5 x 4m) and scattered midden.

N42/930(466655) M I D D E N . Eroding from behind middle of "Snapper Bay" , 10 - 60m east of stream mouth.

S I T E T Y P E S

P a Only two pa sites are present on Motuihe, although a th ird may

have been present on Te Tumurae (N42/146) and could have been destroyed by European activities. One of the pa sites (N42/145) is very small. I t is located on the small , cliff-bound Mangoparerua Point and has a 2m deep, 3m wide ditch across the landward side. W i t h i n this ditch defence is 120m 2 of artificially flattened ground in the form of an elongate platform and two elongate terraces down the south eastern slope (Fig. 2). Three rectangular pits are present on the terraces.

The second pa site (N42/148) is large and is located on the flat to gently sloping top of the cliff-bound Te Raeokahu Point. A 70m long, 1 - 2m deep, L - shaped ditch protects the landward side and enclosed an area of 4500m 2 of f latt ish ground within. A second ditch (2m wide, l m deep) cuts the enclosed area into outer and inner parts (Fig 3). Ten rectangular pits are present along the higher northern side of the outer part and a further seven large pits are present in the inner part.

Fig. 3. Sketch plan of the large pa site on Te Raeokahu Point, Motuihe. Key to symbols is given on Figure 2.

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P i t s I n addition to the pits wi th in the two pa sites, there are forty pits

located in twelve further sites. M o s t pit sites are located on well-drained knolls, ridges and spurs (e.g. N42/152, 153, 155, 156, 157, 908 909) although three are on cliff-tops at the edge of wide, flat areas (e.g. N42/923, 924, 926). The majority of pit sites are in the south western part of Motuihe, and have clusters of two to six pits (Fig 2). A few sites contain a solitary pit each. Undoubtedly these pits were the basal portions of buildings used to store kumara.

Terraces Outside the pa sties, very few obviously man-made terraces have

been recognised. Terraces have been recorded in association wi th pits at three sites (N42/155, 156, 919 - F i g 2). The only other terraces recorded are two small examples associated wi th shell midden (N4 2/929) and located on the seaward slopes of a point in the south west part of Motuihe.

Middens Middens are the most common type of site on Motuihe and occur

on their own or i n association wi th pa, pits or terraces. They are fairly evenly distributed around the perimeter of the island. Few sites, and middens i n particular, have been recorded from the gentle, rol l ing central part of the island.

The middens are predominantly of shell, although hangi stones and charcoal are also common. F i s h bones are rare. The distr ibution of shellfish species in the various middens (Table 1) reflects their natural distr ibution around the island. Middens on the north west end of Motuihe (e.g. N42/145, 911, 921, 922) contain predominantly cockles (Chione stutchburyi) which thrive in Onehorahi B a y , and pipis and tuatuas (Paphies australis, P. subtriangulatum) which can be collected from the more exposed Takutairaroa Beach. These three beach-inhabit ing shellfish are uncommon around the rest of the island because of the lack of suitable habitats. Middens around the south and east coasts (e.g. N42/149, 913, 914, 916, 918, 927) contain predominantly mussel (Perna canaliculus) and cat's eye (Turbo smaragda) which live on intert idal rocks. Today cat's eyes are common on a l l intert idal rocks around Motuihe but mussels are rare, only occurring in abundance around Papakohatu Island, 1km east of Mata i tak iara (Fig. 1). Mussels may have been more abundant on Motuihe i n prehistoric times. Scallops (Pecten novaezelandiae) are abundant i n the midden adjacent to Ngatoikorapa Beach (N42/916) on the south end of the island and were probably collected from the subtidal sands just offshore.

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Table 1. Relative abundance of shellfish species in selected middens on Motuihe. a= abundant, c= common, o= occasional, r= rare. Localities: 1= N42/145; 2= N42/149; 3= N42/911; 4= N42/913; 5= N42/914; 6 = N42/916; 7= N42/918; 8= N42/921; 9= N42/922; 10= N42/927.

Species 1 2 3 •1 5 6 7 8 9 •10

Alcithoe arabica r Cellana ornata r r Cellana radians r r Chione stutchburyi a c 0 0 c a a c Cominella maculosa C 0 r 0 r Cookia sulcata r r r Crassostrea glomerata o 0 () o 0 0 r o 0 Maoricrypta costata r Melagraphia aethiops r o c r r Nerita melanotragus 0 r Paphies australis c c c 0 c 0 0 a C c Phaphies subtriangulatum c o C c o c C

Pec ten novaezelandiae r 0 a r 0 r Penion sulcatus r Perna canaliculus 0 a (] a 0 a a o a 0 Protothaca crassicosta 0 r r r Struthiolaria papulosa r Thais orbita 0 r r 0 Turbo smaragda 0 a 0 c a C c C c fish bone .5 r charcoal 0 o a o 0 hangi stones o 0 0 0 0 o 0 0

D I S C U S S I O N

The number of major archaeological sites on Motuihe is small . Maybe this reflects the rather gentle inland topography and the scarcity of naturally defended positions on which to construct pa. The presence of a number of pits however, suggests that the island was used for cult ivation to a considerable extent. A t least one M a o r i legend mentions cultivations on Motuihe (Walsh 1937). It would appear from the density of archaeological sites that nearby Motutapu Island was more popular to the prehistoric Maor is than Motuihe.

Condition of sites M o s t earthwork sites and some of the middens have been

considerably damaged over the years by stock trampling. Especial ly badly affected are the pit sites along the west coast (eg N42/157, 908) and the midden on the south west corner (N42/917). Extensive rabbit burrow damage has occurred on Motuihe in recent decades. Part icularly badly affected is the large midden behind south Ohinerau Beach (N42/151). European damage to sites has occurred mostly around the north west end of the island (notably N42/146, but other

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sites may have been completely destroyed). A s is normal around coastal areas, natural erosion has exposed and is removing some of the middens (e.g. N42/149, 911, 913, 920, 928).

The present use of the island by large numbers of day-trippers i n summer months is concentrated around the already greatly modified, north-west end and poses little threat to any of the sites, except perhaps to two small middens (N42/910, 921).

In my opinion the four most valuable sites for interpretative purposes are the two pa (N42/145, 148) and two clusters of pits and terraces (N42/155, 156). Two of these sites (145, 156) are fenced off and not threatened by trampl ing stock and half of the large pa (148) is also. The resulting long grass however, obscures the features of interest.

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

I am indebted to the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Board for providing accommodation and Ms Gillian Puch for reading the manuscript.

R E F E R E N C E S

Titchener, P. 1978: "The von Luckner incident." Lodestar Press. 32p. Walsh, L. 1937: "Motuihi. A history of Auckland's lovely marine park." Walsh Printing

Co., Auckland, 16p.

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