I loved the story that ran today in the UK Independent about the Bronze Age cross-Channel trading vessel that has been found off the coast at Salcombe in Devon.
But it is a story that is all archaeology and interpretation – it doesn’t have much life in it. For sure, the trade led to inter-tribal disputes, conquests and dynastic marriages.
So I’ll complement it with a recent story from New Zealand and some brief comments on the trade in pounamu (Greenstone) across the deadly Cook Strait. This was the jealously guarded monopoly of the South Island Ngai Tahu tribe.
BRITAIN’S OLDEST SHIPWRECK DISCOVERD OFF DEVONSHIRE COAST
By Malcolm Jack, UK Independent, Thursday, 18 February 2010
A 3,000 year old Bronze Age trading vessel – the oldest shipwreck ever found in British waters – has been located off the coast of Devon in South West England.
It went down around 900 BC carrying a precious cargo of tin and copper ingots from the continent, and has lain undetected on the seabed in just eight to ten metres of water in a bay near Salcombe ever since. Experts have hailed the discovery – one of only four Bronze Age vessels found in British waters – as “extremely important,” and “genuinely exciting.”
Investigation and recovery work on the boat’s cargo was carried out by archaeologists from South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) between February and November 2009, but the find was only made public this month at the annual International Shipwreck Conference in Plymouth.
295 artefacts – with a combined weight of 84 kilograms – have been retrieved so far, including weapons and jewellery, alongside abundant raw metal.
This cargo points to a healthy and sophisticated trade network that existed between Britain and Europe during the Bronze Age. The find as a whole is testimony to the incredible seafaring capabilities of prehistoric Britons.
A Bronze Age settlement is known to have existed on the coast near Wash Gully where the wreck was found – the boat was probably attempting to land there when it came a cropper just 300 yards from the shore. The waters around this stretch of the Devonshire coast are notoriously treacherous. A nearby reef hints at the most obvious reason for the vessel’s demise.
Sadly none of the ship’s structure remains – most likely it has rotted away over the centuries. But experts have speculated that it was probably a “bulk carrier” about 12 metres long by almost two metres wide, and made out of long timber planks or a wooden frame with animal hide stretched across it. It would have been crewed by about 15 men and powered by paddle.
A narrow row boat might sound like an exposed and treacherous way of crossing the English Channel, but it’s thought that intrepid Bronze Age mariners would have used vessels like this to criss-cross the waterway with some frequency. And directly between Devon and France too, rather than skirting the coast up to the narrower stretch between Dover and Calais, as some people have suggested they did.
The large quantity of copper and tin found aboard the ship – which appears to have come from scattered locations as far afield as the Iberian Peninsula, Switzerland, France or Austria via a wide and complex trade network – would have been used to make bronze, which was the key product of the period. The bronze would in turn have been used to fashion all from tools to weapons and jewellery.
Among other artefacts in the boat’s cargo were a bronze leaf sword, two stone objects that might have been slingshots, and three gold wrist torcs. Four golden Iron Age wrist torcs of European origin were found last year by a metal detectorist in Scotland – these new finds hint at how far back trade in luxury items with the continent stretches.
Academics from Oxford University have taken charge of investigating the discoveries, to see if their exact origins can be determined. It’s hoped that more artefacts will be raised from the seabed yet.
This cargo would have made a tidy profit for the ship’s Bronze Age crew had it reached land; 3,000 years late, it’s finally set to be cashed-in. SWMAG stands to net a healthy return on their find, with the British Museum due to individually value and purchase each piece over the next few weeks.
WAKA IS IN SAFE HANDS
By Rani Timoti, Norwest News, 11/02/2010
Painstaking preservation of a near full-length historic waka unearthed at Muriwai Beach continues. The future of the canoe, about seven metres long with some pieces missing, will be decided after consultation with Maori.
Malcolm Paterson, who has been representing Ngati Whatua o Kaipara in dealings with the Auckland Regional Council and conservator over the waka, says long-term they hope to see it based at Helensville Museum.
"These are the sorts of vessels which used to travel on portages like the Kaipara Harbour. It makes sense for the taonga (treasure) to rest in Helensville where it was found nearby."
"It’s important for our community, especially the local tangata whenua, to be part of the mix with its future. Various iwi can stake their claim on it. With Maori objects, the ownership is with Maori."
“Being involved in helping residents and regional council staff dig up and transport the waka has been really exciting. A lot of people saw it and have been touched by it. Everyone involved did a brilliant job moving the waka in a way that minimised damage, and they showed great commitment during the long hours we spent on site." says the Muriwai Progressive Association acting president.
Housed in a water tank in a secure council depot, regional council historic heritage specialist Robert Brassey says it’s difficult to date the waka because it may be carved from a tree hundreds of years old.
Anthropologist Dylis Johns has been working on its conservation, which could take more than two years.
"The salt will be slow to come out. Getting it completely desalinated is really important."
The Auckland University senior research fellow says she is picking up more interesting information the longer she studies the waka close up.
She believes context is extremely important – where things are in their place and where they belong means everything.
"We’re waiting to do tree-ring dating. Dating an age of the tree doesn’t date the cultural activity though."
BACKGROUND TO THE NEW ZEALAND STORY
Quoting from contemporary Maori leader, Hekenukumai Nga Iwi Busby:
'Ancestors of the Maori arrived in New Zealand from central Polynesia, bringing with them myths, legends, and traditions as they sailed an area of the Pacific known as the 'Polynesian Triangle'. To the north lay Hawaii, Easter Island to the east, and to the south, Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Maori place considerable importance on their origins and the exploits of their ancestors. Iwi (tribe) members pass stories of famous ancestors and the waka in which they travelled from one generation to the next.
Before the arrival of the first Europeans, waka were constantly sailing between islands of the Pacific and New Zealand. Descriptions of a vast temperate land with forests lakes and streams were welcome news for the inhabitants of the over populated Pacific islands.
Large voyaging canoes (waka haurua) of over 60 feet in length were quite capable of carrying ample provisions for early Maori on their 2000 mile journey to New Zealand. These craft were equipped with sail as well as the power of selected men, stout of shoulder to bear the strain of the deep sea paddle. The most important member of the crew was the navigator. His knowledge of star navigation and interpretation of wind, cloud and ocean current would determine a successful outcome.
New Zealand's great forests and abundant natural resources provided Maori with new materials that were to influence the design and construction of waka. As settlements flourished, the twin hulled ocean waka became redundant. In its place, much swifter and manoeuvrable single hulled waka were built and utilised for a variety of purposes. Foremost was the Maori war canoe or waka taua.
Exploration and trade also flourished along the lakes and waterways of the interior, rivalling that of many coastal settlements'.
Taking up the story:
The most important coastal trade route was the crossing of Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand – an extraordinarily treacherous stretch of water.
The South Island was the source of Greenstone (pounamu), from which the finest ceremonial weapons and jewellery were made. This led to recurrent warfare as different tribes attempted to control the trade.
The dominant tribe in the South Island, the Ngai Tahu, originated from the East Coast of the North Island but they eventually came to command Te Waka O Aoraki (the South Island) by conquest and intermarried with the Ngati Mamoe and Waitaha peoples.
Ngai Tahu were often involved in skirmishes with other tribal groups, but they were also skilful at making strategic marriages which led them to establish kin links across tribes and eventually form a huge network of relationships throughout Maoridom.
Through these extended relationships, Ngai Tahu became rich and powerful, establishing a trade in Greenstone throughout both islands.
The coming of the Europeans overlapped with yet another tribal feud over the pounamu trade – this time between Ngati Toa and Ngai Tahu.
Te Rauparaha (c. 1768–1849), the War chief of the Ngati Toa was an extraordinary man, with remarkable qualities of leadership.
Having subdued the tribes living on the west coast of Wellington Province, Te Rauparaha coveted the greenstone of the South Island. A satisfactory pretext for war was found when Rerewaka, a Ngai Tahu chief of Kaikoura, suggested that if Te Rauparaha dared to set foot on his lands he would rip his belly open with a niho manga (shark's tooth knife).
Towards the end of 1828 Te Rauparaha led a fleet of canoes to D'Urville Island and, after capturing the pas in Northern Marlborough, he surprised and took Kaikoura pa. At the conclusion of this campaign Te Rauparaha acceded to a Ngati Raukawa request to avenge Ruamaioro, who had been killed at Putiki some time earlier.
He went via Wanganui, and reduced Putiki-wharanui pa after a two months' siege. Flushed by these victories the Ngati Toa leader decided to punish Kekerenga – a Ngati Ira chief who had had an adulterous “affair” with one of Te Rangihaeata's wives, and who had later sought sanctuary with Ngai Tahu.
Using this as a pretext Te Rauparaha determined to take the strong Ngai Tahu pa at Kaiapohia (near Kaiapoi). The enemy, however, had been forewarned. Te Rauparaha therefore feigned friendship and sent Pehi Kupe and other chiefs into the stronghold.
Their plot, however, was discovered. Finding his force insufficient to capture the pa Te Rauparaha returned to Kapiti, where he persuaded Captain Stewart, of the brig Elizabeth, to convey a large war party to Akaroa.
There they seized and killed the Ngai Tahu chief Tamaiharanui. A well-armed force then besieged Kaiapohia, which fell to a Ngati Toa stratagem, and the ferocity of Te Rauparaha's revenge has since passed into legend.
The southern Ngai Tahu chiefs Tuhawaiki and Taiaroa arrived at Kaiapohia too late to save the pa. They followed the retreating Ngati Toa, however, and fought an engagement with them at Cloudy Bay (Marlborough). Here the Ngati Toa suffered a severe defeat and their survivors, including Te Rauparaha himself, escaped by swimming to their canoes.
Although not born to the highest chiefly rank, Te Rauparaha early won a reputation for cunning and audacious war leadership. He ranks with Te Whero–whero and Tuhawaiki in this because these were the two chiefs who came nearest to defeating him in battle.
He was renowned for the cleverness of his stratagems and for his unfailing habit of turning his enemies' tricks against themselves. In an age of fierce tribal wars Te Rauparaha was unmatched for his ferocity, and vanquished foes almost invariably ended their careers in the Ngati Toa cooking pots.
Te Rauparaha was a very short, wizened man, less than 5 ft tall.
He was buried near the church he had asked Bishop Hadfield to build at Otaki (on the coast north of Wellington), but, according to Maori traditions, his remains were later exhumed and reinterred on Kapiti Island.
There is also a legend that Te Rauparaha used to be a regular at the Thistle Inn in Thorndon, Wellington. The pub still exists though it nows stands a good distance from the old shoreline.
Apparently, Te Rauparaha would pull up his canoe or 'waka' on to the beach right outside the pub and wander in and order a whiskey - and no one had the courage to charge him.
Te Rauparaha died on 27 November 1849 and Thistle was built in 1840 and rebuilt after a fire in 1866, so he had nine years to drink at the pub. Of course he was in jail from 1846 to 1848 but it's still possible. But the failure by the bartender to demand the reckoning on the free drinks seems very believable!
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