OLD MAYOR MIDDENS.

Otaki Mail, Volume 26, 15 September 1919, Page 4

OLD MAYOR MIDDENS.

; BOUND ABOUT PAREMATA. r AN INTERESTING PAPER. A dsal of interesting matter is contained in. a paper read by Mr Henry M. Christie before members of the Wellington Philosophical Society last week. The following are extracts: — • The shores of Wellington and Porirua ! Harbours have been favourite resorts for the generations of Maoris that settled in the districts, and in many of the sheltered places around the bays numerous middens, composed of the refuse from the villages, aro still to be seen. Of all the collection's of middens in the district, those at-I’aremata are probably the niost extensive as well as the most interesting. The sites of the villages appear to have been occupied for many 1 generations, for some of the middens are lying on the hard soil, and others ari®n the dunes, and in some cases the shells contained arc decayed, while in others-they arc comparatively now and hard.' At what period the site was first settled is difficult to ascertain, but it is possible that the Maruiwi or Moriori folk had lived in the district and ther*about, and had hunted and eaten the moas whose bones now lie smouldering on the earthy floor. The finding of six so-called “spools,” of which so little is known, may lead us to speculate on the possibility of the Maruiwi having _ S dwelt there, seeing that the Maoris know next to nothing of the “spools”; in fact, the names and uses are unknown to the Maori. Like the round flat, stones found At Tauraiiga, and certain weapons of which flic- Maoris call tell us nothing, the “spools” have probably belonged to the Maruiwi. Somewhere about 100 years ago the Ngnli-Tua 'and Ngali-Awa tribes-came down the West Coast, and raided the settlements around the Porirua Harbour and drove out the dwellers. Th<s» former then settled at Porirua, and the latter on the shores around Wellington Harbour. Thus we find that the Porirua district has experienced many changes of occupants, and the Parcj mata people have changed many times also. ~Kupe, of Mataliorua canoe fame, * i* stated to have visited this place long i before Toi and his ocean rovers arrived. This would place the period of his visit I about 750 years ago. He found there i islands unoccupied, but when Toi came I later on ho found them peopled by { what we have good reason to believe I were the Maruiwi. Kupe lett the anchor of his canoe Matahrua near the !Pu remat a middens, where it lay for many year. Prom the place whore the i anchor lay to the sea is a considerable distance, and it would require some heavy work 1o place it where it was ' lying, but had the stone been dropped j on the sea beach in Kupe’s time, then , it would appear that either the harbour ' has silled thereabout, or earth movements have raised the. land. Such an j earthquake as “Huo-Whenua,” the I name given to the upheaval that tradiJ lion records as having closed the Channel of Taia, that separated Motukairangi or .Miramar from the mainland. on the west must, have made changes in the adjacent district. The main midden on the side of Pareinata village has been well searched by collectors, and some interesting finds have been recorded. In Volume 17 of the Transactions of the New Zealand ! Institute, Mr P. Chapman has described his finding, in ISS3, a complete j set of neck vertebrae of a moa. Other parts of the moa were found, and he says that some of the bones showed . the marks of stone implements, “which ! had been used to cut off the flesh.” j Another good “find” was made about

two years ago by a Mr "Winter, who [ was fortunate in collecting five of the j so-called “spools” which have been the cause of much interest to the Ethnological Section of our friends. ’The “spools” are made from a hard, i greenish-black stone, anil are shaped somewhat like two small cotton reels j placed pud to end, with a hole bored ■ through, lengthwise. The writer found j one of the “spools” at the same place a few months ago. [ Spike nails were in great 'demand, ! ami were highly prized by the neolithic | Maori, who groaned them, and gave I them a cutting edge, and used them J for chisels. The presence of quantities 1 of moa bones would indicate that the | place had been settled ages ago. j 'Many of the moa bones among the J middens have been broken, but a few j neck vertebrae aud leg bones remained 1 fairly well preserved. Some were alt most incorporated with the hard sandy so'il. and broke when, disturbed. Bones ) and teeth.of the seal, and probably the I sou' leopard, have been found on the i mounds. It would form some interestI ing information were it possible to ■ know details of the manner in which f the Maori hunted and captured the seal. I When’fossicking among middens some 1 strange things are found, which ofti times cause one to smile. Parcmata ■ middens had some queer contrasts. I Here, mouldering moa bones that may { be centuries old; there, lying almost on 1 jot. of them, pieces of clay pipes. He«e. -a “spool” of unknown antiquity: | there, a collection of broken rum bot- ; ties. Here, more moa bones, and bet side them the much-rusted plane iron j that had probably served its last owner i as a siftstituo for an adze.