Overview
Examination of past and recent research in archaeology of the New Zealand region (North, South, Stewart, Chathams and Subantarctic Islands), from initial human settlement until the recent past.
This paper offers original archaeological insights into the origins, development, and identities of the Indigenous peoples of the New Zealand archipelago, through to interactions with later colonists.
The course considers when, where, and how Polynesians first transferred tropical plants, animals and technologies into the colder lands of Polynesia’s southernmost habitable island group. The impacts of those transfers on the archipelago’s native fauna and flora are described and assessed. We then explore the development of Indigenous Māori and Moriori societies, material culture, economy, ideology, patterns of settlement and exchange. Case studies examine archaeological evidence from the subtropical or warm temperate far north to the subpolar far south of Aotearoa New Zealand. Evidence is also reviewed from the offshore, eastern Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) group where a distinctive Moriori culture and people emerged.
Changes in Indigenous culture, society and economy are examined into the interactions of early European contact and British colonisation. The postcolonial situation of archaeology in New Zealand is considered around the nation’s founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as is the relationship between archaeology and Indigenous knowledge (mātauranga/mātauraka).
About this paper
| Paper title | New Zealand Archaeology |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anthropology |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1
(Distance learning)
Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,243.65 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 18 200-level ANTH or 108 points
- Restriction
- ARCH 304, ANTH 430
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Notes
- May not be credited together with ANTH309 passed in 2011 or 2012.
- Contact
- More information link
Please visit the Programme of Archaeology
- Teaching staff
Co-ordinator: Professor Ian Barber
Contributing Lecturers:
- Paper Structure
Primary themes:
- Archaeology of the first New Zealanders, including the emergence of Indigenous Māori and Moriori peoples across varied and changing island landscapes
- Archaeology of Indigenous and other settler peoples in New Zealand from the late eighteenth century
- Teaching Arrangements
The Distance Learning offering of this paper is taught remotely.
Taught lectures, laboratories.
- Textbooks
- Furey, L. & Holdaway, S.J. (ed.) 2004. Change Through Time: 50 years of New Zealand Archaeology. NZAA Monograph 26.
- Smith, I.W.G. 2020. Pākehā Settlements in a Māori World: New Zealand Archaeology, 1769–1860. Wellington, Bridget
Williams Books [Ebook, available through library].
- Course outline
Will be available on Blackboard at the beginning of the course.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Cultural understanding, Ethics, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
On completion of this paper students will gain:
- Subject knowledge of core issues and case studies in New Zealand archaeology
- Improved understanding of the processes, impacts, interactions and identities associated with the human colonisation of New Zealand
- New appreciation and understanding of current specialist analysis in New Zealand archaeological research