Parts of a carved and decorated traditional ocean-going canoe (waka) found in the Chatham Islands, around 800km east of New Zealand, could be the most significant discovery of its kind in Polynesia, archaeologists say.
The Chatham Islands is an archipelago administered as part of New Zealand. Over the past month, archaeologists and local volunteers have unearthed more than 450 artefacts from the waka found smashed to pieces in a creek on the northern coast of the main island, known as Rēkohu to the Indigenous Moriori .
As dating and other analysis of the material gets under way, lead archaeologist Justin Maxwell expects the waka will reveal new insights about Polynesian boat building, voyaging and trade. He said the age of the waka is not yet clear.
“No matter how old it is, we can’t overstate how incredible it is. It is by far the most important discovery in New Zealand, possibly Polynesia, and it will go down as one of the most important finds of all time in Polynesia,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell said he knew it was an extraordinary discovery when he saw the first images, long before he set foot on the island in January to begin excavations.
“Normally, when waka have been found, whether it’s elsewhere in Polynesia or in Aotearoa, you find very small parts of them. With this one, we have hundreds of components … and a wide range of materials,” Maxwell said.
“These things are holy grail stuff. To find all of these components preserved is incredible and it’s going to help us learn so much more about Polynesian waka technology.”
Local farmer and fisher Vincent Dix and his son Nikau first spotted unusual bits of timber last winter after heavy rains had washed out the creek. They took the planks home, initially thinking they might make a nice coffee table, but then quickly realised this was something precious when they found a carved piece.
The recovered parts range from a five-metre long wooden plank with holes for lashings to small pieces of iridescent pāua (abalone) shell and obsidian used in decorations. Several smaller carved planks still hold exquisitely crafted discs of obsidian embedded in the timber. The team also found strings of plaited rope and other woven material, likely part of a sail.
For Maui Solomon, the chair of the Moriori Imi Settlement Trust, there’s no doubt this is a “Moriori ancestral waka” that brought some of his ancestors to the islands hundreds of years ago.
Solomon, a lifelong advocate of the correct telling of Moriori history, also recognises the waka’s notching and long bird-like handles as prominent features used in smaller traditional coastal Moriori boats.
He says the discovery aligns with oral traditions recorded in 19th-century Moriori history.
The work to determine the age of the waka is just beginning. Maxwell has permission from both Moriori and Māori tribal authorities to take small samples for radiocarbon dating and analysis to identify the materials and their sources.
“The waka has to tell its own story,” said Ward Kamo, speaking on behalf of the Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri iwi trust.
“Everything we’re hearing is that this is a very old waka and as a consequence it’s very significant. In terms of its possible link back to the original people who settled the land, it has massive significance for New Zealand as a whole.”
Meanwhile, conservator Sara Gainsford and her team have set up an impromptu laboratory on the Dix family’s Wharekauri Station. There, all parts of the waka are preserved in tanks and containers, covered in water from the creek they came from.
“We’re documenting everything and keeping it in a stable state so that we can give the community a chance to discuss what they want to do. It’s a lot to take in and a huge undertaking to care for a waka of this size.”
A local team of conservators will look after the material over the coming weeks while the community decides the next steps, but the plan is for the material to stay on the island. This first excavation season uplifted only a small portion of the waka, Maxwell said. Most of it remains in the creek, now reburied and covered to protect it from the elements.
For Solomon, the discovery is incredibly exciting.
“It’s huge for Moriori, it’s huge for the Chathams, New Zealand and the Pacific.”
