Ruahihi

Summary

Ruahihi Pa (U14/38) is important in showing how a site and its local area that was well inland from Tauranga Harbour was occupied and used. The site name derives from the area rather than being a traditional name for the pa itself. Although inland, it was within the navigable limit of an adjacent river, so access to Tauranga Harbour was available. The site had a long sequence of occupation and because it was never very intensively used, many features have survived better than in many of the coastal pa.

The site had an inner defended area on a promontory and an outer area, some of which was within a further ditch and bank-defended area. The site was covered in a garden soil that pre-dated the fortification bank. Gardening continued on the site after fortification. Most of the rua, pits and houses found overlay or were cut through the garden soil. The sequence of fortification development began with a palisade line in the outer area. This was later cut by a ditch and bank. On excavation, no palisade was detected within this defence, but as the bank had been lowered by bulldozing, the evidence may have been lost. The inner defended area may be contemporary with either of these fortifications, but there was some prior occupation of this area before its fortification. The inner trench was later partially infilled deliberately, but most of it infilled naturally during the occupation of the outer area. Features associated with this occupation included cooking areas, which were separate from areas with rectangular pits. The pits had been infilled after use. In contrast, rua had not been deliberately infilled. Several shell middens were also present. Several house plans were uncovered, some with cache pits within them. Carbonised remains of the roof structure were found in some of the house sites, with fire-reddened earth lying over them. The authors believe that these houses had earth covers on their roofs (McFadgen & Sheppard 1984: 39). The occupation sequence commenced close to the end of the 16th century and continued into the historic period, demonstrated by the fact that iron fragments were found in two of the houses. Immediately outside the inner defences of the promontory, fortifications do not seem to have been present for most of the period of occupation of the area. This outer area was used for gardening and living. Pits appear to be absent from the middle part of the sequence, but McFadgen & Sheppard noted that this may be because they were located in an unexcavated part of the site.

Pollen and land snail remains indicate that the site had forest or forest scrub vegetation when first occupied, with bracken fern becoming dominant by the 18th century. Seeds of several different food plants were recovered in the excavation, including rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus), matai (Prumnopitys taxifolia) and tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa), but not karaka. Some of the rua had layers of charcoal in their bases from the burning of bracken, grass and manuka. McFadgen & Sheppard (1984) made a case for the rua being used for smoke preservation of edible fruits.

Ruahihi Pa is a very important site in terms of the range of evidence preserved, particularly relating to plant use. The site demonstrates that pa often have a history other than that directly related to defences. The long-term reuse of the area for gardening, storage and occupation, and its continued connection with marine resource use indicate a well-defined and settled pattern of use of the inland area that was associated with use of outlying areas and the harbour. The attraction of the site for occupation probably related to the combination of access to forest resources, access to the sea via the adjacent river and the security provided by the readily defensible promontory. (After Law 2008)

Location and Date

The site is inland of the southern Tauranga Harbour in the Bay of Plenty, adjacent to a navigable river. <googlemap lat="-37.775871" lon="176.053505" zoom="13"> -37.687078, 176.166813, Tauranga, New Zealand -37.779263, 176.056252, Ruahihi </googlemap> The site was excavated as it was to be destroyed in a hydroelectric development.

Excavators

Project Directors

Bruce McFadgen

Artefacts

Unusual finds were a burnt fishing net and two fishing sinkers, which indicated that marine resources from the harbour were important to the inhabitants of the pa.

Publications

Excavation Report

McFadgen, B.G.; Sheppard, R.A. 1984: Ruahihi Pa—A prehistoric defended settlement in the southwestern Bay of Plenty. National Museum of New Zealand Bulletin 22; New Zealand Historic Places Trust Publication 19.