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Palaeontologists working on moa bone deposits in the 'Graveyard', Honeycomb Hill Cave System: This cave is a closed scientific reserve. Bones are commonly found in caves or tomo (the Māori word for doline or sinkhole, often used to refer to pitfalls or vertical cave shafts). The two main ways that the moa bones were deposited in such sites ...
They were hunted, and their bones are widespread in Māori middens, shaped into tools and ornaments. Estimates of moa remains in 1,200 open ovens and middens surveyed in the vicinity of the Waitaki River mouth during the 1930s range from 29,000 to 90,000. Moa chicks may have been eaten by Polynesian dogs.
Radiocarbon dating of charcoal, human bone, moa bone, estuarine shells and moa eggshell has produced a wide range of date estimates, from the early 13th to the early 15th centuries, many of which might be contaminated by "inbuilt age" from older carbon which was eaten or absorbed by the sampled organisms.
Bones from all five moa species located in the upper South Island were found. As well as the remains of numerous butchered moa, seals , porpoises , the extinct Haast's eagle , Eyles' harrier , New Zealand swan and New Zealand raven , kurī (Maori dogs), tuatara , kiore , shellfish such as pipi , pāua , cockles , and marine bones from eels ...
The Moa Bone Point Cave (Te Ana o Hineraki) in Redcliffs was excavated under the direction of Julius von Haast in 1872, and numerous artefacts were found. [6] Many further investigations have been undertaken since that time. Artefacts found included moa bones and egg shells, bones of seals, birds and fish, shellfish and many Māori taonga. This ...
Haast's eagle (Hieraaetus moorei) is an extinct species of eagle that lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the pouākai of Māori mythology. [2] It is the largest eagle known to have existed, with an estimated weight of 10–18 kilograms (22–40 pounds), compared to the next-largest and extant harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), at up to 9 kg (20 lb). [3]
The North Island giant moa (Dinornis novaezealandiae) is an extinct moa in the genus Dinornis, known in Māori as kuranui. [4] Even though it might have walked with a lowered posture, standing upright, it would have been the tallest bird ever to exist, with a height estimated up to 3.6 metres (12 ft).
At least two archaeological sites are present: a site with moa bones well back from the shoreline, which has received very little study, and a Classic Māori site, now thoroughly excavated, extending into the sand dunes. [7] The latter site consists of four occupation layers of which even the oldest contains no moa bone.