2. Mangatawa catchment consents for earthworks, storm water ...

NZ Transport Agency and Tauranga City Council
Mangatawa Drain Flood Bypass and TEM Stormwater AEE
5.7 Archaeological
An archaeological assessment was undertaken during the TEM resource consent phase of the project for the
road alignment in this location. An additional assessment was undertaken to include all the works proposed in
this document and the results are summarised below. This area includes the proposed works in the stormwater
treatment wetland for MPBI and the Tauranga City Council proposed upgrade to the Maranui swale. These
assessments are attached as reports in Appendix 6.
5.7.1 Summary of Results
There are seven recorded archaeological sites within 300m of the proposed construction corridor. None of the
seven sites falls within the affected properties; however, there remains a possibility that unrecorded
subsurface archaeological sites are present within the affected areas which may be disturbed by ground
disturbance associated with the construction of the Tauranga Eastern Motorway. There are no previously
recorded archaeological sites and no unrecorded archaeological sites were within land affected by this
proposal. However Pre-European occupation on the eastern edge of the wetland and on raised ground on the
eastern side of Mangatawa Lane was likely to have been extensive. The area was a poorly drained wetland and
would have been a source of construction materials such as raupo and food such as birds and eels. The
collection of such resources rarely leaves an archaeological record, however, swamp and wetland environments
often contain artefacts made form organic materials such as wood and flax as the anaerobic conditions of
wetlands provide an environment that can preserve buried organic materials that rarely survive elsewhere.
Many wooden and organic artefact assemblages have been recovered from wetland sites throughout the Bay of
Plenty. Wetland areas within the construction corridor and the proposed works to construct the Flood Bypass
have the potential to contain such artefacts especially given the high concentration of archaeological sites on
the surrounding hill country and dune plain.
5.7.2 Archaeological Significance
This part of the Bay of Plenty is rich in archaeological evidence of Maori occupation, the majority of recorded
archaeological sites relating to the period before the arrival of Europeans. The recorded sites may be
significant individually because of the archaeological information they contain relating to the history of Maori
occupation in the area, but they also gain significance as components in a wider archaeological landscape. The
nature and sequence of occupation over time is best understood with reference to the full range of sites within
the area and the relationship between them.
Any subsurface archaeological sites that may be present within the construction corridor may have the
potential to add to our understanding of the nature and antiquity of the surrounding pre European Maori
cultural landscape.
5.7.3 General Considerations
The archaeological assessment undertaken considers archaeological values and does not include an
assessment of Maori values. Such assessments can only be made by the tangata whenua. It should be noted
that archaeological survey techniques (based on visual inspection and minor sub-surface testing) cannot
necessarily identify all sub-surface archaeological features, or detect waahi tapu and other sites of traditional
significance to Maori, especially where these have no physical remains.
Status: Final Page 46 April 2009
Project Number: 3932036
NZ1-1552092-Mangatawa Drain Flood Bypass and TEM Stormwater AEE