Coromandel people worked basalt and made adzes for trade to other communities. The size of the founding population is unknown but according to various theories ranged from a few dozen to hundreds of people in a deliberate colonising expedition after an initial reconnaissance voyage. This is not an unlikely scenario—two way voyaging has been documented in the archaeological record in East Polynesia and Mayor Island obsidian has been found in a site dated to the 13th century on Raoul Island in the Kermadec Group (Anderson and McFadgen 1990). This raises the possibility that voyagers did return to the homeland with news of an unoccupied land mass rich in resources. It is also possible there were multiple settlements of New Zealand over several hundred years—a pearl shell trolling lure found in an archaeological excavation at Tairua, dated to at least 100–150 years after initial settlement, was an imported item as pearl shell does not grow here (Green 1967).
Dates for the building of pa, after 1500 AD,are also similar to dates in other regions. Sites at Kauri Point (Bay of Plenty), Sarah's Gully Pa and Castor Bay all have at least one undefended occupation prior to the defences being constructed.
The Tamaki area had an extensive population by the late 16th-early 17th century. Several settlements among the gardens are all dated to around the same time and the initial activity on Maungarei was also probably in the late 16th century (Davidson 1993).
Calibrated radiocarbon dates are presented in Appendix II.
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