LEARNZ Ahuahu archaeology Podcast 2 of 3

The following questions from schools are answered by NZ historians and archaeologists:

1. Out of all the plant life and animal life, how native is Great Mercury Island?

2. With the 23 pā sites discovered, there must have been a lot of people living on the island, are there estimated numbers of the amount of early settlers?

3. How have argentine ants affected Ahuahu?

4. With archaeologists from the museum and Auckland University examining Tūhuru Ahuahu have they been able to answer questions for the local tangata whenua about their past? And vice versa? Tangata whenua being able to give insight to the researchers about what they know about their past.

5. How can you trust that all visitors keep their boats clean and pest free?

6. With the findings from the garden areas, were there any findings to suggest the early Māori settlers trialled having gardens at different places around the island or were the gardens all generally in the same areas i.e up high etc?

7. What is the most interesting thing you have found out about early human habitation on Ahuahu?

8. Was kūmara indigenous to New Zealand or did it come over from Polynesia?

9. How are excavation sites on Ahuahu protected from being damaged?

10. How do archaeologists know where to start looking for artefacts?

11. Have you found any signs of musical instruments in your archaeological digs and, if so, what are they?

12. How many stone tools have you found on Ahuahu?

13. How do they train the dogs to detect different pest animals and plants?

14. Citizen Science is important to projects like iNaturalist, where people can record wildlife. How can citizens help archaeology if it is not appropriate or damaging to go looking for artefacts?

More at https://www.learnz.org.nz/ahuahu193/connect-with-experts