He Ana, He Whakairo: Examining Māori Belief of Place Through the Archaeological Context of Rock Art

Abstract

There is a historical tension between archaeologically and traditionally informed Māori perspectives in the management of Māori archaeological heritage. A central concern is the extent to which past beliefs that Māori held about particular places can be examined by archaeological methods and therefore factored into archaeological assessments of sites. This research investigated the extent to which such beliefs can be archaeologically recognised in two of New Zealand’s most notable rock art localities. It proposed that the way Māori conceived of places may be archaeologically visible in the positioning of the marks they made. A multi-scalar examination of the archaeological context of the rock art localities involved re-evaluation of imagery and test excavations at rock shelters, and reviews of the surrounding archaeological, historical and land use histories. These provided an understanding of the formational processes that have resulted in the surviving archaeological record. This in turn provided the basis to assess the contexts of rock art and the extent to which spatial patterns of association indicative of past belief can be demonstrated as contributing to that formation. In a few cases where the spatial arrangements of rock art figures and other features did allow ancestral associations to be suggested and a ritual deposit to be recognised, these were considered in relation to insights of a traditional Māori view informed by ethnographic and ethnohistorical accounts. More generally, however, preservation issues at one or more of the different spatial scales confounded the demonstration of such patterns. Comparison between the Taupō and South Canterbury study areas demonstrate how those issues impact on the record, and how the application of current archaeological assessment practices are unlikely to provide the scope to scientifically demonstrate the role of belief in shaping that record. The tension arising from how archaeological method can factor belief into assessments of such Māori heritage places is likely, then, to remain unresolved. Key words: Māori, Rock art, Archaeological context, Heritage assessment, Opihi, Taupō.