What is known about the Moa hunting site at Schoolhouse Creek in the Nevis Valley contributes to the understanding of this significant aspect of New Zealand’s history through the physical evidence of the site and through the associated artefacts now in the collection of the Otago Museum.
Most inland moa-hunting camps are located in the ‘range-and-basin’ country east of the six large lakes drained by the Clutha and Waitaki rivers. This was largely open country prior to the arrival of the Polynesians. The significant sites in inland Otago provide evidence of moa-hunting and occupation. The Nevis Valley is one such basin. Occupation sites recorded show that Maori butchered moa near Schoolhouse Creek, with remains of a camp site and moa butchering site nearby dating from around the fourteenth century. This site is thought to have been a large one, where as many as 2000 moa may have been butchered.
In 1917, Philip George identified this site ‘on a fairly level, shingly, and dry flat, sheltered from the prevailing winds by the sweep of the higher terraces’ as a ‘moa-hunter camping place’. George identified ‘two grass-grown circular depressions about three feet [0.91 metres] in diameter. He excavated the depressions, finding ‘that the pans were very shallow, not deeper than twelve inches [30.48 centimetres] at the centre. There was a complete circle of stones bounding each pan, the stones being placed in position with considerable care, each overlapping the next as shingles or tiles overlap.’ He identified the site as ‘hut fireplaces’ rather than ovens because of the absence of burnt oven-stones and midden material. He found that the pans of the fireplaces were filled with charcoal and ashes, over which a layer of silt about three inches [7.62 centimetres] deep had been deposited by rain-wash or flooding. George found artefacts, including scrapers, hammer stones and an adze as well as other stone implements, at the site that he deposited with the Otago Museum. Nearby he found a ‘quantity of Quartzite clippings’ and a fragment of moa bone. Gold miners in the area told George that before the area was mined there were several acres of camp-site covered with ovens and moa bones were ‘plentiful.’
Maori valued the Te Papapuni/Nevis River, with values including kaitiakitanga, mauri, waahi tapu, waahi taoka and as well as traditional trails. Maori trails in the South Island high country provided significant social and economic links between distant places, and they tended to follow valleys such as the Nevis.
When the site was relocated in 2009, it appeared that part of it visited by Philip George in 1917 has survived. As such, there remains the possibility that evidence at the site is still present. The site requires a systematic ground survey to confirm its extent and survival.
Most inland moa-hunting camps are located in the ‘range-and-basin’ country east of the six large lakes drained by the Clutha and Waitaki rivers. This was largely open country prior to the arrival of the Polynesians. The significant sites in inland Otago provide evidence of moa-hunting and occupation. The Nevis Valley is one such basin. Occupation sites recorded show that Maori butchered moa near Schoolhouse Creek, with remains of a camp site and moa butchering site nearby dating from around the fourteenth century. This site is thought to have been a large one, where as many as 2000 moa may have been butchered.
In 1917, Philip George identified this site ‘on a fairly level, shingly, and dry flat, sheltered from the prevailing winds by the sweep of the higher terraces’ as a ‘moa-hunter camping place’. George identified ‘two grass-grown circular depressions about three feet [0.91 metres] in diameter. He excavated the depressions, finding ‘that the pans were very shallow, not deeper than twelve inches [30.48 centimetres] at the centre. There was a complete circle of stones bounding each pan, the stones being placed in position with considerable care, each overlapping the next as shingles or tiles overlap.’ He identified the site as ‘hut fireplaces’ rather than ovens because of the absence of burnt oven-stones and midden material. He found that the pans of the fireplaces were filled with charcoal and ashes, over which a layer of silt about three inches [7.62 centimetres] deep had been deposited by rain-wash or flooding. George found artefacts, including scrapers, hammer stones and an adze as well as other stone implements, at the site that he deposited with the Otago Museum. Nearby he found a ‘quantity of Quartzite clippings’ and a fragment of moa bone. Gold miners in the area told George that before the area was mined there were several acres of camp-site covered with ovens and moa bones were ‘plentiful.’
Maori valued the Te Papapuni/Nevis River, with values including kaitiakitanga, mauri, waahi tapu, waahi taoka and as well as traditional trails. Maori trails in the South Island high country provided significant social and economic links between distant places, and they tended to follow valleys such as the Nevis.
When the site was relocated in 2009, it appeared that part of it visited by Philip George in 1917 has survived. As such, there remains the possibility that evidence at the site is still present. The site requires a systematic ground survey to confirm its extent and survival.
