13.3 Evidence from Field Archaeology
223
of the distribution (fig. 60) is the constant and close relationship between the occupation
sites and the water; the sea, the harbours, the lakes, and the rivers. The remarkable coastal
concentrations are slightly overweighted by the inclusion on the map of beach midden sites
of all periods but there are many pa on the hills immediately behind the shore. Each of the
inland lakes in the Rotorua area has fortifications on its margin, though their hinterland is
practically blank. In the eastern half of the area, it is clear that the occupation was confined
to the coastal belt and that the limited penetration of the mountain ranges was along the
flanks of the valleys as in the Ruatoki area or the Waiotahi and Waioeka rivers. In general
there are few pa above 300 metres and the majority are found below 150 metres. . ..the
Maori, lacking domestic animals other than a dog, relied for protein in his diet primarily
on a variety of fish, together with eels and shellfish, supplemented by birds and some sea
mammals. Most of these were obtained from the coasts, especially the shallow harbours
like Ohiwa and Tauranga in this area, but also from the lakes and the rivers. . .A pa was built
within reach of a good source of food supply.
Fox comments that in many areas the pa are very close together, “often clustering within half a kilometre, sometimes only a few hundred metres apart”, and
that in such cases “Coexistence seems unlikely.” She suggests replacement may be
an explanation when, for example, a pa has been made tapu (sacred and therefore
unavailable for common use) by the shedding of relatives’ blood. (Best notes tapu
may also follow the burial of a chief at the site.) Fox suggests that replacement
was probably a widespread custom [9] but later contradicted this conclusion [10],
remarking that most pa were occupied for several hundred years.
An alternative argument for pa density is that it may reflect a tribal settlement
pattern, in which hapu (sub-tribes) live in smaller pa close to the major pa which
effectively act as citadels. Whanau (family groups) may live in undefended settlements nearby, knowing they can seek refuge in nearby pa or in a tribal fortress at
need. Their help in defending pa would in turn be useful to the tribe.
The escalation in the building of additional defensive strategies during the Little
Ice Age suggests an intensification in the ferocity of attacks driven by starvation.
The coldest centuries during the Little Ice Age appear to be AD 1400–1500 and
especially AD 1600–1700. Population losses from cold-induced starvation and warfare in these centuries, given the dating Davidson suggests, may have triggered the
addition of defensive strategies to new pa and the rebuilding of old pa to accommodate additional strategies. But commonsense suggests that, given a context of
falling populations and given the enormous labour involved in constructing pa and
the numbers needed to man them, the majority of large hill-forts visible still in New
Zealand today will have been constructed and first manned when the population was
still very large, perhaps in the first two generations after the onset of the Little Ice
Age in AD 1400.
In Chapter 15 we suggest that, in the context of falling populations, a sequence of
additional fortifications would also have provided a solution to the problem of securing protection against attack given drastically declining populations. In Chapter 14
we argue that the “half-life” of the pa was about 107–108 years – that is, the number
of defenders halved every 107–108 years. With sequential fortifications, each additional defensive strategy would have made it easier for the pa to be defended by half
the number of warriors. This is discussed in more detail in Chapter 15.
223
of the distribution (fig. 60) is the constant and close relationship between the occupation
sites and the water; the sea, the harbours, the lakes, and the rivers. The remarkable coastal
concentrations are slightly overweighted by the inclusion on the map of beach midden sites
of all periods but there are many pa on the hills immediately behind the shore. Each of the
inland lakes in the Rotorua area has fortifications on its margin, though their hinterland is
practically blank. In the eastern half of the area, it is clear that the occupation was confined
to the coastal belt and that the limited penetration of the mountain ranges was along the
flanks of the valleys as in the Ruatoki area or the Waiotahi and Waioeka rivers. In general
there are few pa above 300 metres and the majority are found below 150 metres. . ..the
Maori, lacking domestic animals other than a dog, relied for protein in his diet primarily
on a variety of fish, together with eels and shellfish, supplemented by birds and some sea
mammals. Most of these were obtained from the coasts, especially the shallow harbours
like Ohiwa and Tauranga in this area, but also from the lakes and the rivers. . .A pa was built
within reach of a good source of food supply.
Fox comments that in many areas the pa are very close together, “often clustering within half a kilometre, sometimes only a few hundred metres apart”, and
that in such cases “Coexistence seems unlikely.” She suggests replacement may be
an explanation when, for example, a pa has been made tapu (sacred and therefore
unavailable for common use) by the shedding of relatives’ blood. (Best notes tapu
may also follow the burial of a chief at the site.) Fox suggests that replacement
was probably a widespread custom [9] but later contradicted this conclusion [10],
remarking that most pa were occupied for several hundred years.
An alternative argument for pa density is that it may reflect a tribal settlement
pattern, in which hapu (sub-tribes) live in smaller pa close to the major pa which
effectively act as citadels. Whanau (family groups) may live in undefended settlements nearby, knowing they can seek refuge in nearby pa or in a tribal fortress at
need. Their help in defending pa would in turn be useful to the tribe.
The escalation in the building of additional defensive strategies during the Little
Ice Age suggests an intensification in the ferocity of attacks driven by starvation.
The coldest centuries during the Little Ice Age appear to be AD 1400–1500 and
especially AD 1600–1700. Population losses from cold-induced starvation and warfare in these centuries, given the dating Davidson suggests, may have triggered the
addition of defensive strategies to new pa and the rebuilding of old pa to accommodate additional strategies. But commonsense suggests that, given a context of
falling populations and given the enormous labour involved in constructing pa and
the numbers needed to man them, the majority of large hill-forts visible still in New
Zealand today will have been constructed and first manned when the population was
still very large, perhaps in the first two generations after the onset of the Little Ice
Age in AD 1400.
In Chapter 15 we suggest that, in the context of falling populations, a sequence of
additional fortifications would also have provided a solution to the problem of securing protection against attack given drastically declining populations. In Chapter 14
we argue that the “half-life” of the pa was about 107–108 years – that is, the number
of defenders halved every 107–108 years. With sequential fortifications, each additional defensive strategy would have made it easier for the pa to be defended by half
the number of warriors. This is discussed in more detail in Chapter 15.