June 01, 2016
Kapiti dunes a kai supermarket
An archaeologist for the New Zealand Transport Agency says the Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway project has unearthed fascinating insights into Kapiti Coast history.
Mary O’Keefe says more than 200 new archaeological sites were uncovered along the 18km route.
Every time a machine dug into new ground, she and iwi monitor Danny Mullen were watching.
If they spotted something of interest, work would stop so samples could be taken.
They concluded the coastal dunes were like the fish and meat aisle of the supermarket where people came to get resources rather than settle permanently.
There was no evidence of gardening in any of the sites along the route.
The M2PP team have released a four-minute video about the findings at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKhkSZrMlXE
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