March 31, 2016
Koiwi found under Waikato Expressway path
The Koiwi Discovery Protocol has been triggered after human bones were discovered during earthworks for the Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway.
The protocol was developed by the NZ Transport Agency and Waikato-Tainui in partnership for such situations.
Contractor Fulton Hogan HEB Joint Venture called in project archaeologists to investigate a midden in an area between Ralph Road and Lake Kimihia, and the koiwi were spotted by an iwi kaitiaki working alongside the archaeologists.
Hamilton highway manager Kaye Clark says the area was blessed by Waikato-Tainui and work is stopped in that area while archaeologists remove the remains and carry out investigations in the surrounding area.
The koiwi will eventually be interred at the Taupiri urupa.
Archaeologist Warren Gumbley said the remains would be examined to determine the age, sex and possibly health of the person if possible, and material around the site would be used to date the burial.
He says it’s unusual to find shell middens that far inland, and there was also a kumara pit at the site which suggests it may have been a temporary, seasonally occupied site, relating to both harvesting the resources of the lake and also growing kumara.
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