Palliser Bay is at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand, to the southeast of Wellington. It runs for along the Cook Strait coast from Turakirae Head at the southern end of the Remutaka Ranges to Cape Palliser, the North Island's southernmost point. The coastline is exposed to the weather and winds.
Inland from the bay is the plain of the RuamÃÂhanga River, which has its outflow in the bay. This river flows through Lake Wairarapa, from the coast.
There are several notable geographical features in the area, including the Pà «tangirua Pinnacles, Kupe's Sail and the Whatarangi Bluff, the erosion of which has had dramatic effects on the coastline. Some of these cliffs are made of mudstone and are therefore easily eroded, and sometimes collapse.
Palliser Bay is an important MÃÂori archaeological site. Stone rows raised for cultivation along the eastern shore of Palliser Bay, noted by archaeologists as early as 1904, hinted at historic horticulture practices. The first major excavations were undertaken between 1969 and 1972. Early writers suggesed the Tini o Awa people, or their contemporaries the KÃÂti MÃÂmoe or Waitaha people may have built these stone rows.
The purpose of the stone rows is not clear. The prevailing idea is that the stone was a by-product of gardening and was re-used to mark the edges of the plots. Another suggestion is that the stones were mined and lined up for the purpose of building rows not necessarily for gardens.
Quantities of foreign raw material found during examinations of MÃÂori archaeological sites revealed a network of historic communication through Cook Strait. An adze was found on a long beach ridge in Palliser Bay, locally known as the Great Wall, in 1970. This beach ridge has been modified with stone walls and kumara gardens before European settlement. Small adze, fishhook tabs of moa bone, chert, and obsidian flakes are commonly recovered at the beach. The adze found at the Great Wall had unusual dimensions in a New Zealand context, but were similar to those found in the Tuamotu Islands, Lower Cook Islands, Austral Islands, and the Society Islands in tropical Polynesia. The adze was made from basaltic rock which could be from the Cook Islands or from New Zealand.
Sea mammal hunting was common around New Zealand, but difficult in Palliser Bay. This is from the lack of adequate weather, resulting in less frequent marine hunting. Compared to other coastal archaeology sites, Palliser Bay had a wider range of sea mammal species such as New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri), dolphins (either dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) or common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), baleen whales (Mysticeti), pilot whales (Globicephala melaena), New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri), and Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). However, there was no abundance of these species, making them an unreliable food source. Palliser Bay exhibits both hunter-gatherer and horticulturalist systems at work at the same time. This does not fit the archaeology interpretation of New Zealand dichotomy of this time.
These findings revealed the bay was first settled in the 1300s, with evidence for six separate communities on the eastern side with a total population of about 300.
The Washpool Valley was once full of bush clad, but with over 800 years of significant forest fires a grassy valley with a shingle river formed. Because there was no more dense forest it became harder to have bush birds, rats, and berries as a food source. The newly formed shingle river also pushed sediment into shallow coastal waters, agitating shellfish and impacting populations. There were eight fishing lure shanks discovered that were made of moa and sea mammal bone. Further findings were of kumara and gourd gardens which were grown in either garden terraces or stone rows.
Excavations in Washpool Valley in the Palliser Bay area date back to around ~AD 1180 â AD 1550. Many different fish species were excavated and are still seen in the environment today, which includes Deep Sea Perch (Cheilodactylus macropterus (also known as Nemadactylus macropterus)), Red Codling (Pseudophycis bachus), and Barracouta (Thyrsites atun). This is unique as the rest of New Zealand typically only has very few fish species, but with high populations. Shellfish species such as Blackfoot PÃÂua (Haliotis iris), Maihi (Melagraphia and Diloma spp.), Radiate Limpet (Cellana radians), Cat's Eye Snail (Lunella smaragda), Brown Rock Shell Snail (Haustrum haustorium), Cooks Turban Snail (Cookia Sulcata) and Pipi (Paphies spp.), are thought to have made up the bulk of a shellfish diet for early MÃÂori communities.
Species found commonly hunted from the rocky inshore areas at Black Rocks in Palliser Bay are fish such as Greenbone (Odax pullus) and Wrasses (Pseudolabrus spp.). There was also birds like the Fluttering Shearwater (Puffinus gavia), Huttons Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni), Red-crowned Parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae), and less commonly, domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris). Further discoveries show that eight shellfish species in this area were heavily collected and exploited. Maihi (Melagraphia and Diloma spp.), Radiate Limpet (Cellana radians), Cat's Eye Snail (Lunella smaragda), Dentate Limpet (Cellana denticulata), Blackfoot PÃÂua (Haliotis iris), Yellowfoot PÃÂua (Haliotis australis), and Crayfish (Jasus edwardsii) were found to have been collected in large numbers during Palliser Bay settlement.
It is difficult to know for sure how this impacted shellfish populations and how quickly their numbers dropped as their growth process is complex. Other possibilities as to why these populations declined so much are environmental change, cultural preference, or sampling effects (higher possibility in archaeology depending on whether it is possible or desirable to excavate as a whole in areas difficult to get to, like at Black Rocks).
Among fish and shellfish, the crayfish populations were also significantly knocked back by settlements in the 12thâÂÂ13th century of Palliser Bay. Because of this early over-collecting, crayfish populations today still haven't recovered to their numbers before occupancy. This lack of sea food plus the ongoing difficulty of growing crops may have lead to the eventual abandonment of East Palliser Bay. Although the marine resources at Palliser Bay are thought to have been exploited, it is unjust to think that the MÃÂori communities at Black Rocks were ignorant or unsympathetic to the need for shellfish conservation.
The settlements were abandoned some time between 1550 and 1625, from a combination of falling temperatures which made agriculture more difficult, deforestation through fire, and soil erosion smothering shellfish beds. There is evidence of a large change in the climate in the last millennium, greatly impacting those residing in Palliser Bay. Only half of the summer season was adequate for collecting shellfish and inshore fishing, with wind swells making it difficult to canoe or hand line fish. Growing seasons between AD1450 and AD1800 are thought to have been more unpredictable. Summer seasons had ranges of temperatures from with northwesterly winds, down to when cold fronts came through. Successful gardens needed shelter from the weather, and strong wind swells made this even more difficult.