Our main goal for today was to continue working our way through
Layer 2 in both the northern and southern excavation areas to further
develop our understanding of the distribution of features.
Left:
Moa bone found in far southern excavation area (note reddish colour).
Right: Concentration of nephrite fragments
Photos: Otago University
In the northern areas a number of possible post holes have appeared.
A fire feature was also found, and this was associated with a small number
of bone fragments.
A 2 x 2 m area was opened to the south yesterday. We found quite a bit
of fauna in this area. This is interesting because middens are very rare
on this site because of the low soil pH.
Left:
Cleaning down an excavation area for drawing.
Right: Dr Richard Walter mapping features using the total station.
Photo: Otago University
It is probable that large quantities of shell were dumped in this part
of the site in the past and this has changed the local preservation conditions.
We continued excavating this area today and recovered small quantities
of moa bone and other bird bone. There are lots of stones here too so
progress will be slow.
In the southern excavation areas, the team has been working through Layer
2 and uncovered three fire features as well as a number of artefacts,
including a stone fishing lure, several adze fragments and many fragments
of nephrite.
