Wairau Bar

I love programmes like "Time Team" so I'm extremely interested in what's going on down at Wairau Bar in the South Island. This is the site of an early New Zealand settlement (700 years ago!) and was excavated in the 1940s and 1950s. This year, the human remains that were found at that time are being returned to the Bar. It's a delicate business to ensure the rest of the site isn't disturbed because there's still a lot to be learnt.

One of the team at the Bar has been keeping a blog, called "Wairau Bar blog: the return of New Zealand's first people." Part archaeology, part social history, part photo essay, it's a fascinating look at a working site. Quinn writes "Remember that Wairau Bar was not a cemetery or burial ground - it was a large and thriving settlement, permanent enough to have its own cemetery, with a whole range of everyday tasks and activities going on, like any other small town. Previous work has given us an idea of the funeral rituals of these people, but we want to know more about how they lived day-to-day."

One of the original excavators of the site, Roger Duff wrote a book about Wairau Bar in the 1950s called "The Moa-hunter period of Maori culture". Rodney Libraries doesn't hold a copy however Waitakere and North Shore Libraries do. We have a reciprocal lending arrangement with these two libraries which means that you can join either library for free. You have to abide by their library rules (which are slightly different to ours) and return your books to their libraries. If you want to join you can sign up online or in person at one of their branches. Remember to take personal identification and proof of address (like a rates or power bill) with you when you go to pick up your card.