Historical significance

History of Ōtuataua Stonefields (c. 1300)

Polynesian horticulturalists adapt to colder soils

Archaeologists still debate how long people have lived in New Zealand. Unfortunately radiocarbon dating is better for hundreds of thousands of years than hundreds. Some have suggested that rats may have accompanied people here 2500 years ago but, even if that is correct, it almost certainly did not lead to continuous settlement. Ongoing East Polynesian settlement probably began about 750 years ago. Recent evidence suggests that the first seafarers fetched up at Wairau Bar in the north-east of the South Island. Some settlers probably soon moved north to save tropical plants such as taro, yam, aute and tī that could not survive southern frosts.

The Ōtuataua Stonefields show how these first tropical colonists adapted to their new environment. New Zealand’s shorter growing seasons and colder mean temperatures ruled out many Polynesian staples. The settlers salvaged only a few crops - kumara, taro, yams and gourds, all plants with short growing seasons and small or tough leaves. In the inland Bay of Islands, Palliser Bay and parts of the northern South Island they gave their crops further assistance by nurturing them in neatly laid-out stone-walled gardens. The stones warmed and mulched the soil, extending the growing season by up to a month.

Two centuries ago, Maori were still cultivating 8000 ha of volcanic stonefields around Tāmaki-makau-rau, the Auckland isthmus. Now just 160 ha of the stonefields remains. They largely fell into disuse after the early 19th-century inter-tribal Musket Wars and were swallowed up by urban sprawl. Conservationists had to fight hard even to save Ōtuataua’s 100 ha at Māngere, which was bought by the Manukau City Council with help from DOC, the Lotteries Commision and the Auckland Regional Council. On 10 February 2001, one of New Zealand’s oldest sites became its newest reserve, the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve. Here you can see Polynesian house sites, storage pits, cooking shelters, terraces, mound gardens, garden plots and garden walls as well as some 19th-century European dry-stone farm walls. (NZ history.net)

The Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve at Ihumatao

Overlook the Manukau Harbour and out towards the notorious Manukau Heads, location of many a shipwreck in early days. To the north lies central Auckland whilst across the harbour to the west lie the Waitakeres Ranges. Legend has it that the volcanic landscape of the Auckland volcanic plain resulted from a great battle between the forest people of the Waitakeres and those of the Hunua Ranges in the south. This volcanic landscape of 55 volcanoes (2011), many of which are located in the south is known as Nga Tapuwae o Mataoho – Footprints of Mataoho.

The Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve are part of an area known as Ihumatao or Te Ihu o Mataoho “The Nose of Mataoho”, once part of the 8000 hectares of the Auckland volcanic plain. Now, on this 100 hectare site, it is possible to trace the history of human presence in Auckland from initial Maori settlement to the arrival of Europeans in the mid 1800s with their pastoral farming techniques.

The Stonefields Historic Reserve and Ihumatao are interwoven with the history of Auckland. This is the birthplace of Auckland. The people of the papakainga tell of settling here around 835 AD. Archaeological research, including carbon dating, has confirmed occupation, on the adjacent island of Puketutu / Te Motu a Hiaroa, back to the mid twelfth century although this is still prior to the arrival of Hoturoa and the Tainui waka in 1350.

European settlement started in the early 1800 and modern weapons of war were introduced leading to inter-tribal warfare, known as the Musket Wars which virtually decimated the area of occupation. The first missionaries arrived in the mid 1830s and set up a missionary station on the Otuataua Stonefields to introduce Christianity. There they lived peacefully with the local people although this harmonious relationship did not continue.

The Otuataua landscape lent itself to early settlement because of the exceptional fertility. The underlying volcanic stone retains the heat in the soil and offers an extended growing season, it is this, the underlying volcanic stonefield which gives its name to the area - the Otuataua Stonefields.

Otuataua cone and crater rebuilt after quarrying.

Central to the Otuataua Stonefield Historic Reserve is the main volcanic cone of Otuataua. The cone provided a fortified village to the original inhabitants. The volcanic soils extended all the way to the shoreline where there was access to the abundance of the Manukau Harbour. Here the sandy beaches and wide tidal flats were rich with shellfish and the harbour provided fish and a regionally important shark fishery. All these factors meant that this was an area rich in resources, people and mana.

Even then it was all about “Location, Location, Location” and in the 1920s and 1930s the Otuataua Stonefields became a holiday destination for the people of Auckland and numerous baches sprung up along the coastline.

Regrettably the 64 metre high Otuataua cone was quarried in 1950s and the scoria used for building work, including the building of Auckland Airport. Adjacent to the Otuataua Stonefield Historic Reserve lies Te Puketapapatanga a Hape / Puketiti ( Puketapapa )- Auckland's smallest volcano - of deep spiritual significance. [adapted from SOUL website http://www.soulstopsha.org/otuataua-stonefields.html]