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Tangata whenua in Turanga are excited by the discovery of tools and moa bones that point to one of the earliest settlements in Aotearoa.
Archaeologists from the University of Otago excavated part of the Gisborne Port that is being developed as a log handling area to determine what might be there and the level of protection needed.
Cultural consultant Nick Tupara from Ngati Oneone says it’s a tiny glimpse into life 700 years ago, and it confirms some of traditions around the large flightless birds.
"Many of the tracks that were known to our old people, from Turanga to Whangara for example, from Turanga to Uawa, were originally laid down by moa and the old people followed those tracks that eventually became their main highways connecting rohe to rohe," he says.
After deciding the find was probably at the edge of a larger village, the archaeologists decided to close up the hole and leave it for a later generation to explore the wider area.
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