People have lived in Hauraki for about 800 years. During that time they have left their mark on the landscape both physically and in place names.
The Hauraki region reaches out from the nucleus of the Coromandel Peninsula and Hauraki Plains to include the western shore and islands of the Hauraki Gulf and into the Tamaki-Waitemata area (Fig. 1). An extensive coastline, a mountainous backbone and the swampy plains make this an environmentally diverse region and very rich in resources. Over time the Hauraki iwi have utilised the advantages of these different areas for gardening, hunting birds, harvesting kai moans, and for defence.
In the last 40 years there have been a number of archaeological excavations, making the wider Hauraki area one of the more intensively studied regions in Aotearoa (Fig. 2 and Appendix I). The attention has, however, been focussed on smaller areas within the region, such as the western Bay of Plenty, Coromandel east coast, Waihou River, Tamaki River and Motutapu Island, and on specific topics such as initial colonisation by East Polynesians, gardens in East Tamaki, and the undefended settlements of Motutapu Island and Tamaki.
Archaeologists sift through the physical evidence of the past to construct a broad picture of settlement and use of the landscape. The interpretations presented here are derived from excavation but are supplemented by early European eye-witness accounts and journals of missionaries and travellers. Land Court records are another important source of information: in establishing their rights to a land block, claimants often named occupation sites and resources used. Also, where appropriate, artefact collections have been used to interpret activities on specific sites.
This report is organised under broad topics to provide a picture of pre-European Maori life in the Hauraki area, outlining the pattern of settlement, food resources used and the subsistence economy as it can be reconstructed from archaeology This is complemented by, and contrasted with, historic accounts which demonstrate the extent to which European influence made an impact on traditional Maori society.
