Other site types which are rarely found because of the limited archaeological evidence are related to the use of the foreshore: canoe landing areas which are only apparent if stones have been cleared away; stone fishtraps of which only four are recorded from Colville Bay and Port Charles on the Coromandel Peninsula (Fig. 7) and Browns Island; and eel weirs.
Burials
Burials have been found in a number of locations, including beach dunes. It was a common East Polynesian practice to bury people near or in the settlement, a custom which was brought to New Zealand. Over time however there was a shift to burying people in hidden places away from the villages, and to secondary internment after appropriate ceremonies had been conducted. Burials have been found during excavations, for example, Raupa at Paeroa and Station Bay on Motutapu Island, but in the majority of cases the burials post-date the time the site was lived on.
Pattern of settlement
Recorded archaeological sites are mainly within one kilometre of the coastline except in major river valleys where sites can be found some distance inland. Although the map distribution is partly a reflection of where archaeologists have been, several extensive site surveys on the Coromandel Peninsula failed to find evidence of occupation more than two kilometres from the coast (Furey 1987). There was undoubtedly use of the inland areas for hunting birds and rats, for extracting stone and for routes between areas, but occupation sites may have been fewer in number, and difficult to detect in the absence of terraces or shell middens.
From the recorded sites the settlement pattern can be broadly reconstructed as it related to the economic cycle. Small middens and terrace sites suggest temporary occupation by whanau on a seasonal basis while gardening, gathering forest foods or other products. Temporary fishing camps are also apparent. This type of site is present throughout history. In the early period (up to 1500 AD) some sites, for example, Sarah's Gully, may have acted as base camps or semi-permanent villages at which a wide range of activities were carried out including gardening, food storage and burial of the dead. Associated with the villages were hunting camps which may have only been occupied for a few weeks and where a limited range of activities were carried out. Later, pa became the focus of settlement, to be identified with, and for protection if needed. However some pa were only used in a very limited way and could not be termed semi-permanent defended villages. People continued to live in semi-permanent villages or in small whanau-based camps, probably on a seasonal basis while tending gardens or using localised resources.
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