Teviotdale David

David Teviotdale 1870 - 1958

David Teviotdale excavating - it is believed at Little Papanui. Photo courtesy Otago Museum - all reproduction rights reserved to OM.

David Teviotdale was born in Central Otago and after a brief schooling was a goldminer and farmer. Moving to north Otago and taking up an occupation as a book seller and stationer left time for interests and he took up collecting Maori material in the region. He came under the influence of Otago Museum in 1919 and established a close relationship with H D Skinner. He was an inveterate note taker on his field work and these have been mined by later workers for information on the sites he dug.

Sites he worked on in his career included Shag River (Allingham 1996), Waitaki River Mouth, Papatowai, Little Papanui (Simmons 1967, Leach 1972), Oruarangi (Best 1980, Furey 1996) and sites in Nelson (Miller 1998) and Southland.

Teviotdale was on the staff of Otago Museum from 1929 until retirement in 1937. He came out of retirement to make up for war time staff shortages. He was then director of the Southland Museum from 1942 until 1952.

His field methods were very poor by today's standards. Better examples could have been found in the literature of the day but others took these up rather than Teviotdale.

His long bibliography shows good intent in placing a record of his excavations on paper. The controversy over the possible Melanesian origin of early occupants of New Zealand was an academic dispute in which he engaged. He was a Percy Smith Medal recipient from Otago University and an honorary member of the New Zealand Archaeological Association.

Helen Leach contributed a biography to the on-line Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Link

Obituary: H D Skinner 1958 Journal of the Polynesian Society 67(4): 321-323.

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References

Allingham, B. 1996 The Teviotdale Excavations. In Shag River Mouth: the Archaeology of an Early Southern Maori Village. A.J. Anderson, B. Allingham and I.W.G. Smith eds. Canberra, Australian National University, Research Papers in Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 27.

Best, S. 1980 Oruarangi Pa: past and present investigations. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 2:65-91.

Buick T. L. 1937 The Moa-Hunters of New Zealand: Sportsman of the Stone Age Thomas Avery and Sons Limited, New Plymouth. on-line

Furey, L 1996 Oruarangi: The archaeology and material culture of a Hauraki pa. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum No. 17.

Leach, H. M. 1972 A hundred years of Otago archaeology. Records of the Otago Museum, Anthropology No.6, 19pp.

Leach, H.M. 1998a David Teviotdale, 1870-1958. In The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Vol. 4 1921-1940. Auckland, Auckland University Press 522-3.

Leach, H. M. 1998b David Teviotdale. In Southern People. A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. J.Thompson (ed.). Dunedin, Longacre Press 503-4.

Miller, K. 1998 The Relevance of Teviotdale's Diaries for Archaeology in Golden Bay. BA Hons reserach paper, University of Otago.

Simmons D. R. 1967 Little Papanui and Otago Prehistory. Records of the Otago Museum, Anthropology No.4, 63 pp.

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Bibliography

1924 Excavations Near the Mouth of the Shag River, Otago, Journal of the Polynesian Society 33:3-10.

1927 Notes on Artifacts Found in Cache at Pipikaritu Beach, Near Otago Heads, Journal of the Polynesian Society 36:292-93.

1929a Notes on Stone and Moa-Bone Fish-Hook Shanks in the Otago University Museum, Journal of the Polynesian Society 38:270-80.

1929b Note on a Maori Bone Needle, Journal of the Polynesian Society 38:292-93.

1930 Ancient Stone Called Te Whatu-Kura-A-Tangaroa, Journal of the Polynesian Society 39:292.

1931 Notes on the Excavation of a Cave Near Taieri Mouth, Journal of the Polynesian Society 40:87-90.

1932a The Material Culture of the Moa-Hunters in Murihiku, Journal of the Polynesian Society 41:81-120, 239-41.

1932b Reburial at Little Papanui, Journal of the Polynesian Society 41:238-39.

1934 Evidence of Cremation by the Otago Maori, Journal of the Polynesian Society 44:32-35.

1937 Progress Report on the Excavation of a Moa-hunters' Camp at the Mouth of the Tahakopa River, Journal of the Polynesian Society 46:134-53.

1938a Further Excavations at the Moa-hunters' Camp at Papatowai, Journal of the Polynesian Society 47:27-37.

1938b Final Report on the Excavation of a Moa-hunters' Camp at the Mouth of the Tahakopa River, Journal of the Polynesian Society 47:114-18.

1939a Excavations of Maori Implements at Tarewai Point, Otago Heads, Journal of the Polynesian Society 48:108-15.

1939b Excavation of a Moa-hunters' Camp at the Mouth of the Waitaki River, Journal of the Polynesian Society 48:167-85.

1947 Teviotdale, David and H.D. Skinner Oruarangi Pa, Journal of the Polynesian Society 56:340-56.