This historic place is the main rock art shelter at what is known as the Takiroa Rock Art Site. The rock art is protected by metal caging on a portion of land vested in Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu. The earliest known European recordings of rock art in New Zealand were taken here by Walter Mantell, who sketched a group of drawings of the site in 1852. In 1896 the site was photographed by Augustus Hamilton, then director of the Otago Museum. These early recordings are extremely important as many of the figures shown by Mantell and Hamilton were later removed from the shelter by a visiting American scholar, Dr J. L. Elmore.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
5653
Date Entered
4th April 1985
Date of Effect
4th April 1985
City/District Council
Waitaki District
Region
Canterbury Region
Legal description
SECT 116A, Otakaieke Settlement, DP 16208 (RT OT 77809), Otago Land District
Location Description
3.5km north-west of Duntroon Township, along State Highway 83