A Maori waka has been unearthde at Muriwai Beach after a passerby spotted it sticking out from the sand.
A canoe used for fishing and river travel, the waka tikai was discovered at the southern end of the beach.
It took a couple of days to plan its excavation so that the seven-metre waka would not be damaged.
Finding the whole length of a waka is fairly rare, as usually only sections are found, such as the prow or stern.
Auckland Regional Council parks staff and locals carefully moved the waka on to a truck, which took it to a temporary home at the regional council depot.
“It’s difficult to date the waka because it may have been created from a tree many hundreds of years old, and there is no surrounding material that we can date,” says ARC historic heritage specialist Robert Brassey.
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A canoe used for fishing and river travel, the waka tikai was discovered at the southern end of the beach.
It took a couple of days to plan its excavation so that the seven-metre waka would not be damaged.
Finding the whole length of a waka is fairly rare, as usually only sections are found, such as the prow or stern.
Auckland Regional Council parks staff and locals carefully moved the waka on to a truck, which took it to a temporary home at the regional council depot.
“It’s difficult to date the waka because it may have been created from a tree many hundreds of years old, and there is no surrounding material that we can date,” says ARC historic heritage specialist Robert Brassey.
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