Painstaking work continues, discoveries include two moa-bone fish
hooks from earliest NZ pre-history.
Jean
using Leica theodolite to record stones, post holes and other features.
On Tuesday, work continued slowly and meticulously. The stratigraphy
in area O11-west - which had not been clear at the end of the previous
day of excavation - was revealed: in some parts of the excavation unit
several centimetres of pale sand lay directly on top of the early village
level (layer 5).
This level is being excavated very carefully, about 5cm at a time, and
details of postholes, rocks and umu (earth ovens) are photographed and
mapped. All the material that is removed from layer 5 is being wet-seived
in the ocean, and the contents of the sieves retained for analysis. This
is a painstaking process, and will continue over the next few days. The
same process in underway in area O11-east and area O12.
Left:
Lizzy and Karen slowly excavating O12 (see site excavation map)
Right: Lynda and Sheryl doing the same in O11.
On Wednesday (14th) an imminent storm cut the workday short, but not
before two beautiful moa bone fish hooks were recovered. Both are from
layer 5, and both are of a style that belongs to the earliest phase of
New Zealand prehistory. One of these (a "minnow lure"), to which
a lure piece of wood or bone was once attached, was used for catching
species from near the surface (such as kahawai or barracouta). The other,
a one-piece bait hook, was designed to catch bottom-dwelling species.
Top
Left: Minnow lure from O11. Right: Fragment of one-piece hook from
O12 (refer to site map).
Below: Drawings of minnow lure and one-piece hook
Sheryl
talking to the students from Tolaga Bay School.
There have been a number of visitors to the site. The Gisborne Herald,
Radio New Zealand, school pupils, members of the local community, and
interested tourists have been shown around. An item about the excavation
on National Radio is expected to be broadcast during the morning report
next Monday.
