New Zealand's own Pompeii? The Sunde site, Motutapu Island, through a geoarchaeological lens

Robert Brassey

doi:10.70460/jpa.v15i1.359

Authors

Robert Brassey None (Independent archaeologist) https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8082-7637

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70460/jpa.v15i1.359

Keywords:

Geoarchaeology, tephra, tsunami, seismite, modified soil

Abstract

The Sunde site, at Pūharakeke on Motutapu Island, is one of New Zealand’s most remarkable archaeological sites. Evidence of Māori occupation is deeply buried beneath tephra erupted from the adjacent Rangitoto volcano around 1397 CE, and fossil footprints of people and their dogs are preserved in between the ash layers. The eruption was clearly witnessed by Māori but surprisingly, no traditional account of the event appears to exist. Archaeological excavations undertaken in 1963 and 1981-2 have been interpreted as providing evidence that a kāinga (settlement) existed at the site at the time of the eruption. Claims that the occupants survived the eruption, and engaged in gardening activities between ash showers, have also been made. A review of the site from a geoarchaeological perspective reveals inconsistencies with key aspects of these existing narratives, primarily due to misidentification of geological structures and natural deposits as archaeological features. These include soft sediment deformation structures associated with dewatering of the tephra, and two marine inundation deposits. One of these is a possible tsunami washover deposit dating from the early 14th century CE; the other appears to be associated with a significant storm surge event during the mid-16th century.

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