The word pà(; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any MÃÂori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts â fortified settlements with palisades and defensive â and also to fortified villages. Pàsites occur mainly in the North Island of New Zealand, north of Lake Taupà Â. Over 5,000 sites have been located, photographed and examined, although few have been subject to detailed analysis. Variations similar to pàoccur throughout central Polynesia, in the islands of Fiji, Tonga and the Marquesas Islands.
In MÃÂori culture, a great pÃÂ represented the mana (prestige or power) and strategic ability of an iwi (tribe or tribal confederacy), as personified by a rangatira (chieftain). MÃÂori built pÃÂ in various defensible locations around the territory (rohe) of an iwi to protect fertile plantation-sites and food supplies.
Almost all pàwere constructed on prominent raised ground, especially on volcanic hills. The natural slope of the hill is then terraced. Dormant volcanoes were commonly used for pàin present-day Auckland. Pàare multipurpose in function. Pàthat have been extensively studied after the New Zealand Wars and more recently were found to safeguard food- and water-storage sites or wells, food storage pits (especially for kà «mara), and small integrated plantations, maintained inside the pÃÂ.
Recent studies have shown that in most cases, few people lived long-term in a single pàand that iwi maintained several pàat once, often under the control of a hapà « (subtribe). Early European scholarly research on pàtypically considered pàas isolated points settlements, analogous to European towns. Typically, pàwere a part of a greater area of seasonal occupation. The area in between pàwere primarily common residential and horticultural sites. Over time, some pàmay have become more important as places of display and a status symbol (te tohu rangatira) rather than purely defensive locations.
Traditional pàtook a variety of designs. The simplest pÃÂ, the pàtà «watawata, generally consisted of a single wood palisade around the village stronghold, and several elevated stage levels from which to defend and attack. A pàmaioro used multiple ramparts, earthen ditches used as hiding posts for ambush, and multiple rows of palisades. The most sophisticated pàwas called a pàwhakino, which generally included all the other features plus more food storage areas, water wells, more terraces, ramparts, palisades, fighting stages, outpost stages, underground dug-posts, mountain or hill summit areas called "tihi", defended by more multiple wall palisades with underground communication passages, escape passages, elaborate traditionally carved entrance ways, and artistically carved main posts.
An essential feature of pÃÂ that set them apart from British forts was their incorporation of food storage pits; some pÃÂ were built exclusively to store food safely. PÃÂ locations include volcanoes, spurs, headlands, ridges, peninsulas and small islands, including artificial islands.
Standard features included a community well for a long-term supply of water, designated waste areas, an outpost or an elevated stage on a summit on which a pahà « would be slung on a frame that, when struck, would alarm the residents of an attack. The pahà « was a large oblong piece of wood with a groove in the middle. A heavy piece of wood was struck from side to side of the groove to sound the alarm. The whare (a MÃÂori dwelling place or hut) of the rangatira and ariki (chiefs) were often built on the summit with a weapons storage. In the 17th and 18th centuries the taiaha was the most common weapon. The chief's stronghold on the summit could be bigger than a normal whare, some measuring 4.5 meters x 4 meters.
PÃÂ excavated in Northland have provided numerous clues to MÃÂori tool and weapon manufacturing, including the manufacturing of obsidian (volcanic glass), chert and argillite basalt, flakes, pounamu chisels, adzes, bone and ivory weapons, and an abundance of various hammer tools which had accumulated over hundreds of years.
Chert, a fine-grained, easily worked stone, familiar to MÃÂori from its extensive use in Polynesia, was the most commonly used stone, with thousands of pieces being found in some Northland digs. Chips or flakes of chert were used as drills for pÃÂ construction, and for the making process of other industrial tools like Polynesian fish hooks. Another find in Northland pÃÂ studies was the use of what MÃÂori call "kokowai", or red ochre, a red dye made from red iron or aluminium oxides, which is finely ground, then mixed with an oily substance like fish oil or a plant resin. MÃÂori used the chemical compound to keep insects away in pÃÂ built in more hazardous platforms in war. The compound is still widely used on whare and waka, and is used as a coating to prevent the wood from drying out.
Pàstudies showed that on lower pàterraces were semi-underground whare (huts) about 2.4 m x 2 m for housing kà «mara. These houses or storage houses were equipped with wide racks to hold hand-woven kà «mara baskets at an angle of about 20 degrees, to shed water.
These storage whare had internal drains to drain water. In many pàstudies, kà «mara were stored in rua (kà «mara pits). Common or lower rank MÃÂori whare were on the lower or outer land, sometimes partly sunk into the ground by 30âÂÂ40 cm. On the lower terraces, the ngutu (entrance gate) is situated. It had a low fence to force attackers to slow and take an awkward high step. The entrance was usually overlooked by a raised stage so attackers were very vulnerable.
Most food was grown outside the pÃÂ, though in some higher ranked pàdesigns there were small terraces areas to grow food within the palisades. Guards were stationed on the summit during times of threat. The blowing of a polished shell trumpet or banging a large wooden gong signalled the alarm. In some pàin rocky terrain, boulders were used as weapons. Some iwi such as NgÃÂi Tà «hoe did not construct pàduring early periods, but used forest locations for defence, attack and refuge â called pàrà «nanga. Leading British archaeologist, Lady Aileen Fox (1976) has stated that there were about 2,000 hillforts in Britain and that New Zealand had twice that number but further work since then has raised the number of known pàto over 5,000.
PÃÂ played a significant role in the New Zealand Wars. They are also known from earlier periods of MÃÂori history from around 500 years ago, suggesting that MÃÂori iwi ranking and the acquiring of resources and territory began to bring about warfare and led to an era of pÃÂ evolution.
Their main defence was the use of earth ramparts (or terraced hillsides), topped with stakes or wicker barriers. The historically later versions were constructed by people who were fighting with muskets and melee weapons (such as spears, taiaha and mere) against the British Army and armed constables, who were equipped with swords, rifles, and heavy artillery such as howitzers and rocket artillery.
Simpler gunfighter pàof the post contact period could be put in place in very limited time scales, sometimes two to fifteen days, but the more complex classic constructions took months of hard labour, and were often rebuilt and improved over many years. The normal methods of attacking a classic pàwere firstly the surprise attack at night when defences were not routinely manned. The second was the siege which involved less fighting and results depended on who had the better food resources. The third was to use a device called a Rou â a half-metre length of strong wood attached to a stout length of rope made from raupà  leaves. The Rou was slipped over the palisade and then pulled by a team of toa until the wall fell. Gunfighter pàcould resist bombardment for days with limited casualties although the psychological impact of shelling usually drove out defenders if attackers were patient and had enough ammunition. Some historians have wrongly credited MÃÂori with inventing trench warfare with its associated variety of earth works for protection. Serious military earth works were first recorded in use by French military engineers in the 1700s and were used extensively at Crimea and in the US Civil War. MÃÂori's undoubted skill at constructing earthworks evolved from their skill at building traditional pàwhich, by the late 18th century, involved considerable earthworks to create rua (food storage pits), ditches, earth ramparts and multiple terraces.
Warrior chiefs like Te Ruki Kawiti realised that these properties were a good counter to the greater firepower of the British. With that in mind, they sometimes built pÃÂ purposefully as a defensive fortification, like at Ruapekapeka, a new pÃÂ constructed specifically to draw the British away, instead of protecting a specific site or place of habitation like more traditional classic pÃÂ. At the Battle of Ruapekapeka the British suffered 45 casualties against only 30 amongst the MÃÂori. The British learned from earlier mistakes and listened to their MÃÂori allies. The pÃÂ was subjected to two weeks of bombardment before being successfully attacked. HÃ Âne Heke won the battle and "he carried his point", with the Crown never tried to resurrect the flagstaff at Kororareka while Kawiti lived. Afterwards, British engineers twice surveyed the fortifications, produced a scale model and tabled the plans in the House of Commons.
The fortifications of such a purpose-built pàincluded palisades of hard pà «riri trunks sunk about 1.5m in the ground and split timber, with bundles of protective flax padding in the later gunfighter pÃÂ, the two lines of palisade covering a firing trench with individual pits, while more defenders could use the second palisade to fire over the heads of the first below. Simple communication trenches or tunnels were also built to connect the various parts, as found at à Âhaeawai Pàor Ruapekapeka. The forts could even include underground bunkers, protected by a deep layer of earth over wooden beams, which sheltered the inhabitants during periods of heavy shelling by artillery.
A limiting factor of the MÃÂori fortifications that were not built as set pieces, however, was the need for the people inhabiting them to leave frequently to cultivate areas for food, or to gather it from the wilderness. Consequently, pàwould often be seasonally abandoned for 4 to 6 months of each year. In MÃÂori tradition a pàwould also be abandoned if a chief was killed or if some calamity took place that a tohunga (witch doctor) had attributed to an evil spirit (atua). In the 1860s, MÃÂori, though nominally Christian, still followed aspects of their tikanga at the same time. Normally, once the kà «mara had been harvested in MarchâÂÂApril and placed in storage the inhabitants could lead a more itinerant lifestyle, trading, or harvesting gathering other foodstuffs needed for winter but this did not stop war taking place outside this time frame if the desire for utu or payback was great. To MÃÂori, summer was the normal fighting season and this put them at a huge disadvantage in conflicts with the British Army with its well-organised logistics train which could fight efficiently year round.
Fox noted that lake pÃÂ were quite common inland in places such as the Waikato. Frequently they appear to have been constructed for whÃÂnau (extended family) size groups. The topography was often flat, although a headland or spur location was favoured. The lake frontage was usually protected with a single row of palisades but the landward boundary was protected by a double row. Mangakaware swamp pÃÂ, Waikato, had an area of about 3,400 m<sup>2</sup>. There were 137 palisade post holes identified. The likely total number of posts was about 500. It contained eight buildings within the palisades, six of which have been identified as whare, the largest of which was 2.4 m x 6 m. One building was possibly a cooking shelter and the last a large storehouse. There was one rectangular structure, 1.5 m x 3 m, just outside the swampside palisades which was most likely either a drying rack or storehouse. Swamps and lakes provided eels, ducks, weka (swamp hen) and in some cases fish. The largest of this type was found at Lake NgÃÂroto, Waikato, the ancient settlement of the NgÃÂti Apakura, very close to the battle of Hingakaka. This was a built on a much larger scale. Large numbers of carved wooden artefacts were found preserved in the peat. These are on display at the nearby Te Awamutu museum.
Kaiapoi is a well-known example of a pÃÂ using swamp as a key part of its defence.