Kohika: The Archaeology of a Late Maori Lake Village in the Ngati Awa Rohe, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand Geoffrey Irwin
Te Kohika is an important book studying the archaeology of a Maori village dating from about AD 1700, which has been unusually well preserved because of its wetland location. Abandoned because of flooding, Te Kohika remained untouched for 270 years and its excavation and analysis has been a 30-year task by a large number of scholars from different disciplines, making this perhaps the major archaeological project of recent times. The work revealed extensive information about the social and domestic activities of a Maori village community well before the advent of Pakeha. The village also includes the oldest-known carved house which has also yielded a great deal of information. In chapters by 12 different experts on, for example, diet, wooden artefacts, fibrework, obsidian, houses, animal remains, Te Kohika offers convincing conclusions on the trade, hunting, leisure, and social hierarchy of these early New Zealanders. It is well illustrated with diagrams and photographs.