sharing the past - Auckland Museum

Te Papa Whakahiku 

AUCKLAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM 

sharing the past 

YEARS 1 TO 10 

Education Kit 

Auckland Museum 


© Auckland Museum 2002

Sharing the Past 

1 Contents 



About this Resource: 1 

Booking Information: 1 

Introduction: 2 

Teacher Background: 3 

Curriculum Links: 23 

Pre and Post-visit Activities: 26 

Classroom Activity Sheets: 28 

Gallery Activity Sheets: 40 

Bibliography: 49 

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE: 

This resource has been designed to meet the 

needs of social studies classes, Years 1-10 

Adult/child interaction is important to maximise 

your museum experience. Group leaders need 

to have some background knowledge of what 

the students are expected to cover and adults 

should work with their group throughout the visit 

as well as during hands-on sessions. 

page 

BOOKING INFORMATION: 

All school visits to the Museum must be booked. 

We advise booking 2-3 months in advance. 

Numbers: 

Adult/child ratio: 

Y 1-4 1:6 

Y 5-6 1:7 

Y 7-8 1:10 

Y 9-10 1:30 

Booking: 

Contact the Museum School Bookings Officer at: 

Private Bag 92018 Auckland 

Phone: (09) 306 7040 

Fax: (09) 306 7075 

Introductions and Hands-on Sessions (facilitated 

by Education Staff) are available. 40 maximum 

per session, including adults. Please ask the 

School Bookings Officer for more information. 

A small service charge applies to school 

groups. Charges as at 2002 are: 

Self-conducted Visits: free 

contents

introduction 




Millions of people worldwide visit museums each year, seeking 

knowledge, enjoyment and greater understanding of other 

people, places and times. Most adults will have tucked away 

a memory of that first, awed impression of the mummy in the Egyptian 

display or of Rajah the elephant with his tatty tail, or of entering the 

meeting house with its looming carvings and glittering paua eyes. 

Such memories still spark enthusiasm for the Museum as a place to 

share with their own families. 

SECOND FLOOR 

FIRST FLOOR 

GROUND FLOOR 

AUCKLAND 1866 

HOLOCAUST 

GALLERY 

MALE TOILETS 

FRONT STEPS 

FEMALE TOILETS 

LIFT 

LIFT 

PACIFIC 

MASTERPIECES 

PACIFIC 

LIFEWAYS 

CAFE 

SCARS ON THE HEART 

1840 to 1918 

II WAR 

WORLD WAR I 

MEMORIES WORLD 

THE ARMOURY 

Resource Centre 

MAORI NATURAL 

HISTORY 

KUMARA GOD 

NATURAL HISTORY 

Impacts 

MATAPUNA 

Resource Centre 

ZERO 

SCARS ON THE HEART 

1939 to present 

EDUCATION CENTRE 


Origins 


Oceans 

SHOP 

MAORI 

TREASURES 

WILD CHILD 

HOTUNUI 

HALL OF MEMORIES 

PLESIOSAUR 

LAND 

WEIRD & WONDERFUL 

MANY PLANT 

SPECIMENS 

TREASURES & 

TALES 

CITY 

TE TOKI A CIVILISATIONS 

TAPIRI CANOE Where the Mummy 

may eventually go 

LIBRARY 

DIG OF AUCKLAND 

CITY GAOL 

SPECIAL 

EXHIBITIONS 

PHOTO- 

GRAPHIC 

COLLECTION 

Introduction 2


SHARING THE PAST 

The situation today is quite different. Our collections 

have grown tremendously. Although private 

estates are still generous in their bequests, pressure 

on storage space has meant that the Museum 

must be more selective about what can be 

accepted. Some collections may also be augmented 

with carefully selected materials 

obtained at auction. 

On 6 November 1867 a group was formed that 

became the Auckland Institute. They collected a 

library of books and a selection of specimens. 

3 Teacher Background 



teacher background 

Many museums can trace their initial origin to bequests and 

contributions from private collectors. The embryonic Auckland 

Museum owed much of its respectable display to the zeal of 

James Alexander Smith, the first honorary secretary, in gathering 

'specimens and curiosities of various kinds'. The new Museum commenced 

in October 1852 and was housed in one room of the old 

Government Farm House situated at the top of Grafton Road (a 

plaque on the footpath shows its location). The New Zealander, 

October 27 1852, reported that the second room granted by the 

government was empty, 'still awaiting further contributions which, it is 

hoped, will soon pour in'. 

Lectures were given on such topics as "The botany 

of the northern part of the North Island". They 

occupied the old Post Office building in Princes 

Street and opened to the public several days a 

week. It would seem that they were in direct competition 

with the other museum. This may be why 

approaches were made to the trustees of 

Auckland Museum to combine with the Institute in 

1869, which they did. After some years of 

fundraising, a new building, priced at £4777 

was erected further along Princes Street. 

The Museum (stone) building as it looked in 1892 after the first addition was completed. The annex can be 

seen attached to the Museum's right-hand side.


The Institute's part of the Museum's activities represented 

the educational service the Museum 

should give. Their avowed aims were to "advance 

the diffusion of knowledge and promote alike, 

pure taste, intellectual pleasure and material 

advancement". They therefore held public lectures 

and readings of scientific papers, discussions 

on literature and art and also established 

the first School of Art to be based in the Museum. 

A varied selection of classical statuary casts was 

imported by Thomas Russell. Sir John Logan- 

Campbell funded a tutor and the equipment for 

students who would sketch these examples of 

good taste. Many museums throughout the world 

used this same technique to assist their artists. 

However, Auckland's statues seem to have been 

modest in comparison with some cities, where single 

sex viewing was necessary. After 11 years 

the school closed down as Dr. Elam's bequest 

established a new independent art school which 

still functions today. 

The new Museum building seemed ideal initially. 

However, in 1892 and 1904 two extensive additions 

had to be constructed to one side of the 

building. Enthusiastic collecting by the first curator, 

botanist Thomas Cheeseman, and further public 

spirited subscriptions and donations to an 

expanding human history collection meant that by 

1913 the building's space had become totally 

inadequate. The Institute and Museum Council 

interviewed the then Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. 

W.F. Massey, requesting government aid for 

building a new museum on Domain Hill. The 

request was granted the next year. Unfortunately 

the outbreak of World War I meant plans had to 

be postponed until 1920. 

The devastating events of Gallipoli and the 

Western Front had so affected New Zealanders 

that the concept of a war memorial as part of the 

new Museum was enthusiastically embraced. A 

citizens committee, which operated for 10 years, 

raised 4/5 of the necessary funding and ran a 

successful competition to select a design for the 

building itself. The three winning architects, 




Grierson, Aimer and Draffin, were war veterans. 

They based their design loosely on the Grecian 

style but more directly on the Pennsylvania 

Railway station which was in turn based on the 

Roman Baths at Caracella. In line with 'modern' 

practice a feature of the new building was to be 

plentiful natural light, hence the huge windows set 

into each wall and the internal light wells. 

Ironically today's scientific evidence suggests that 

U.V light is highly destructive, especially of natural 

materials, and all the windows have had to be 

blanked out. 

Unfortunately Thomas Cheeseman, the curator of 

50 years, died in 1923 and was not able to see 

this planning come to fruition. Thomas Cheeseman 

was an energetic and farsighted individual. 

Under his direction the Museum became a noted 

research institution, yet one always in touch with 

public needs. Although the Princes Street building 

was soon too crowded to hold separate exhibitions, 

he was in touch with overseas trends and 

even at this early time was keen to set aside an 

exhibition space especially for children as soon 

as larger premises were established. His legacy 

to the Museum was an excellently preserved collection 

of 10,000 native plant specimens which is 

still widely studied and includes examples of an 

extinct plant from the Manukau Heads. 

A range of innovations was able to be incorporated 

in the new War Memorial Museum. Many 

more curators were to be accommodated in the 

new building. A fund established by the Carnegie 

Museums Trust allowed for a fulltime education 

officer to be appointed. Olwyn Turbott was given 

the task of creating experimental displays, using 

the latest techniques, aimed at engaging the visitor 

in a more educational experience. The new 

director, Gilbert Archey's special project involved 

providing cinema opportunities for the public. 

Curators were encouraged to make their own 

16mm films on natural history topics. C.W. Dover, 

the taxidermist, was actively engaged in shooting 

birds in the Hauraki Gulf so that the Museum 

would have the freshest possible specimens. 

Teacher Background 

4


Many of the birds stuffed in the 1930s and 40s 

are still in excellent condition and on display in 

the latest natural history galleries. Rajah the elephant 

was one Dover's most demanding projects and 

is still to be seen lurking in the Wild Child Gallery. 

Many past presidents of the Museum Council, 

enthusiasts in different disciplines, left interesting 

bequests to the Museum. Some to the library, 

including an important collection of negatives, as 




Rajah the elephant at the Auckland Zoo. Unfortunately the creature's uncertain temperament made him unsuitable to 

take children for rides. When he became too dangerous for the keepers to handle it was thought best to put him down. 

Dover is placing the prepared skin over a framework 


well as generous endowment of funds. Others 

added to the general collections such as a kauri 

gum collection, a huge 2000 piece ethnographical 

collection, and notably magnificent Maori 

carvings from H.E.Vaile. 

People often ask how Museum artefacts are 

obtained. The following chapters detail the history of 

some of our more well-known or interesting collections 

and the methods used to preserve and display these. 

Pupils from Auckland Boys Grammar School are amazed 

at the size of Rajah's rib-case.


BOTANICAL MEANDERINGS 

Fieldwork in those early days was tough, usually 

involving public transport, long tramps with no 

fancy packs or tents. March 1930 was the two 

Lucys' first great expedition to the summit of the 

remote Mt Maungapohatu (1359m) in the 

Urewera country from the newly opened road to 

Lake Waikaremoana. 

"We set off at 3 am in a PDW truck back to the 

Papatotara Saddle and from there trudged the 

deep-worn horse track across three steep ridges 

to Rua's [Rua Kenana, Maori Prophet] Pa at the 

base of our mountain…an almost vertical surveyor's 

route took us to the flattish summit just as the 

sun was setting. When dawn came the mountain 

plants were covered with a delicate layer of 

frost…reluctantly we left at 11.30, loaded down 

with specimens, to meet a 4 o'clock deadline at 

Papatotara. From our six hours of observations 

on this botanically undocumented mountain we 

wrote our first paper, with all the confidence of 

youth - and copious editing by Dr Cockayne!" 

(Moore 1986). 

Another of her projects gave us a last look at a 

dying industry. Filming for "The Heart of the 

Kauri" began in 1939 with the help of a most 

obliging sawmiller in Katikati. It chronicled the 

passing of an age as the last of the millable kauri 

disappeared from New Zealand's forests. Lucy 

Cranwell did not see her finished film until 1993 

when it was copied onto video and used in the 

Museum's Suffragettes exhibition, as she had met 

and married an American airforce officer Watson 

Smith in 1943 and moved to America in 1944. 




Conditions in the early days of collecting were rugged to say the 

least. The following is an excerpt from an account of Lucy 

Cranwell and Lucy Moore's field trip. Lucy Cranwell, who died 

in 2000, was the museum's botanist from 1929 to 1944. Lucy Moore 

was her friend and fellow botanist. 

Lucy Cranwell arranging flowers for the annual flower 

event which she instituted to commemorate Thomas 

Cheeseman. This was such a popular exhibition of native 

flowers that specimens were sent from all over the North 

Island. Teams of volunteers rearranged and watered the 

plants each night. 

Even today we have our share of rugged scientists 

who risk all for their samples. Auckland 

Museum's present botanist Ewen Cameron and his 

companions, past Museum botanist Anthony 

Wright and two DSIR scientists were left stranded 

on an inhospitably steep island in the Three Kings 


6


group when the sea's ground swell increased to a 

30ft surge. The zodiac crew fetching them, 

unable to get close enough, tossed them a backpack 

with supplies for the night. When they 

opened it the top little packet had some Minties 

in it with a note saying, "It's moments like these…" 

They spent the night on sloping ground under the 

scrub listening to the petrels and hoping the large 

centipedes weren't about to walk over them. It 

was a rather cold uncomfortable night. The next 

day the Zodiac returned but still could not land. 

Finally by the third day the sea was calm enough 

for a rescue. Notwithstanding the hardships the 

trip was extremely worthwhile however, as the 

endemic shrub (Elingamita Johnsonii) which they 

were hoping to find, was discovered, not only 

there but, on an adjacent island as well. These 

are the only two islands on which the shrub grows. 

Another botanist, Rhys Gardner, spent some time 

collecting specimens in the remote hinterland of 

Papua New Guinea. In the good old days the 

way of securing specimens from tall trees was to 

Photography was a year or so old when Pakeha 

Auckland was founded but recording of the 

Auckland scene did not begin until a short-lived 

venture by two photographers in 1847. By 

1852 portrait sittings had become popular and 

in the 1860's landscape photography became 

all the rage. Consequently by 1870 when the 

combined Museum and Institute moved into 

their new premises they were in a great position 

to begin collecting a wide selection of views of 

Auckland and notables of this city. 

Images have survived in one of three main 

forms - glass plate negatives, film-based negatives 

or as positive images on paper (these 

may often be contained in albums). A rough 





shoot them down but nowadays the locals object 

a bit. Although his local helper was an excellent 

tree climber, sometimes he says, a feeling of sturdy 

independence came over him when he liked 

doing things himself. 

On such a day, confronted by a tantalising specimen 

in a huge smooth-trunked jimbul tree, he 

decided to use the catapult method. A catapult is 

used to send a sinker and fishing line over a high 

branch. The fishing line is used to pull a larger 

rope over the branch, then a few sharp tugs and 

down will come the specimen. His first three tries 

fell short and unfortunately into a prickly field, 

making retrieving them an unpleasant business. 

The last try was a bull's eye. A few tugs and the 

fruits would be in the bag. After tying the rope 

around his waist and bouncing energetically up 

and down the branch made some rather menacing 

flexing motions, sprang up, pulled him off his 

feet and a piece 3m long and 20cm thick broke 

off spearing into the ground just where he had 

been standing only a moment before! 

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION 

Photographs provide us with realistic views of many past events 

and happenings both special and everyday. 

approximation of the Museum's photographic collection 

is about 1.25 million images. We have 

nearly 500 albums. The glass plates number 

An amazing amount of gear was needed on desert sorties. Note 

the jerry cans of fuel and water and the sand tracks attached to the 

truck's side. These increased tyre traction when stuck in loose sand. 

(Photo: Stewart)


some tens of thousands. 

The collection is carefully protected from further 

deterioration, being housed in a cool store environment 

where the atmospheric conditions are 

constant. These vast numbers have been assembled 

from a variety of sources. As an example 

Gordon Maitland, the present curator of pictorial 

collections, was approached some years ago 

by Raymond Stewart who had brought in a supermarket 

bag full of tiny black and white snapshots 

each the size of a matchbox. The photographs had 

belonged to his father, Claude Stewart, and 

Raymond was happy to loan them to the Museum for 

copying. Many of the photographs were screwed up 

and unsorted but as they were spread out Gordon 

could see some interesting stuff. 

Claude had been a soldier in North Africa during 




The soldiers came from all walks of life. Some, like these band members, could use their pre-war skills to entertain the 

troops, lifting morale. Others could use their acting talents to bring reminders of Hollywood glamour. (Photos: Barnett) 

Claude Stewart and his distinguished passengers stop to 

scan the horizon. Note the canvas covered front window 

and headlights to minimize the sun's reflection. 

World War II and these were personal snapshots. 

He had been a driver sometimes taking important 

men such as General Freyberg, the British Prime 

Minister Winston Churchill and Field Marshall 

Montgomery to meetings or reviews of the troops. 

The beauty of snapshots is that they show more 

real life rather than the stiff, formal official photographs. 

These photos are a great addition to the collection 

especially as many W.W II veterans are still 

living and have not yet got to the point of donating 

their memories. 

On another occasion Gordon met an old soldier, 

Eddie Barnett, once again clutching a plastic bag. 

This time the photographs were his own. He had 

taken them all and therefore could tell us all the 

details of what had been happening when the 

shots were taken. 

He was concerned about the possibility of dying 

without leaving any information and wished to 

donate his whole collection to the Museum. These 

opportunities are eagerly accepted as they provide 

us with details which the official war 

accounts neglect but which are interesting on a 

more personal level. The images may be used by 

historians to illustrate a book for future generations. 

Here in the Museum they have been used to 

illustrate exhibitions such as Scars on the Heart 

with personal details to help us appreciate more 

fully what it was like... over there. 


8


Elasmosaurs may have come ashore to lay eggs 

as modern turtles do. Juvenile Elasmosaurs spent 

their early years in warm, shallow water close to 

shore and possibly escaped onto the beach to 

avoid storms or predators. Elasmosaurs became 

extinct along with the rest of the marine reptiles 

and dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous (65 

million years ago). 

On its death this 

particular adult 

sank to the ocean 

bottom and settled 

into the sandy mud. 

Even while the 

bloated flesh was 

being stripped 

from the carcass by 

scavenging organisms, 

sediment 

began to cover the 

12 metres of the 

remains. Sections 

of the skeleton 

formed the nucleus 

of several spherical 

concretions. 

Concretions, like 

the Moeraki 

Boulders, are lay- 




THE SAGA OF THE KAIKOURA PLESIOSAUR 


70 million years ago an adult Elasmosaur (a long necked plesiosaur) 

identified as Mauisaurus haasti was living in the 

ancient Pacific Ocean close to the outer continental shelf. 

Elasmosaurs, the largest of the 

marine reptiles, were extremely 

agile swimmers. Long, strong 

necks meant that their heads were able to twist 

and turn quickly in search of food; to lunge out and 

skewer fish, squid or birds between interlocking, sharp teeth. 

ers of cemented sandstone wrapped like an 

onion around a nucleus and vary from a few 

millimetres to boulder size. The Museum's concretion 

formed around the ribs and pelvic girdle of 

Mauisaurus haasti. 

About 25 million years ago, plate tectonics or 

movement of the earth's crust, caused the seabed 

Mike Eagle leans against half of the huge concretion destined for Auckland Museum. The 

other half lies further down near his feet.


strata to be slowly raised out of the sea. Over 

millions of years the uplifted rock strata eroded 

away until the concretions became exposed in the 

cliff face at Amuri Bluff. Eventually they crashed 

down onto the boulder beach below, the 

Museum's specimen splitting in to two mirror 

imaged sections. As the locality is remote and 

rugged the fossil was not discovered until 1993 

by a group of fossickers. The two segments were 

so large and heavy (around 3 tonnes each) that 

they were thought impracticable to retrieve. 

The site was forgotten until 1995 when the 

Museum's research associate Mike Eagle, a 

palaeontologist, ‘rediscovered’ this group of 

large fossils. Further investigations in 1998, this 

time accompanied by Natural Exhibitions curator 

John Early, established that, with the right equipment, 

the two blocks could be airlifted out and 

preserved. Sponsorship by the Portage Licensing 

Trust and others meant the work could begin. 




Men propped up the huge boulders using blocks 

and timber jacks and manoeuvred webbed lift 

nets underneath. After much planning, sweating 

and around ten thousand dollars later, one at a 

time both blocks were lifted by the largest helicopter 

operating in New Zealand. The giant helicopter 

was forced to hover precariously close to 

the steep cliffs running the risk of smashing into 

them at the slightest wind gust. 

Eventually both boulders were lifted clear of the 

tidemark and shunted across the Kaikoura Bight 

slung dangerously beneath the chopper's belly. 

There they were gingerly deposited, one mirror 

image onto a sawdust filled flatbed truck and the 

other transported to the Kaikoura Historical 

Society District Museum, where it is currently on 

display. The truck carried its precious cargo onto 

Auckland for preparation and presentation. The 

fossil specimen is now displayed in the Origins 

Gallery together with a video of the heart stopping 

process of transporting and lifting it. 

The remote and rugged cliffs that released our concretion at Amuri Bluff near Kaikoura. The pale circle half way up 

the cliff''s right-hand side is a similar sized concretion ready to topple. 


10


The body was a young adult, 

between 18 and 30 years 

old, when it died. Carbon 

dating of wood and linen 

samples has put the age of 

the mummy at between 900 

and 400 years B.C. This 

date has some confirmation 

from the style of the mummy 

and coffin. 

In 1998, when the old 

People of the World gallery 

closed for refurbishment, the 

mummy was removed from 

display. This gave us the 

opportunity to assess the 

condition and requirements 

of the mummy. It was found 

that the wrappings were 

covered in a white spotty 

deposit. This was caused by 

the high relative humidity in 

Auckland, which, as it fluctuates, 

caused salts in the fabric and those used in 

the mummification process of the body, to be 

drawn to the surface of the wrappings where 

they effloresced into crystal form. This, along with 

long-term exposure to light and air, caused it to 

become brittle and weak and for sections to 

break off easily. 

The coffin was also badly affected by age and 

environmental conditions. There were several isolated 

areas of rotten wood where it was crumbly 

to the touch. The construction of the coffin was 

through the joining of planks of wood with wood- 




THE MUMMY - A FLASHBACK TO EGYPT 

The mummy was obtained by Canterbury Museum in 1888 with 

help from the Florence Museum and the Bulaq Museum in Cairo. 

It came from Akhmim, which is on the Nile River, and cost five 

pounds. In 1958 it was exchanged for several Pacific objects by 

Auckland Museum. 

Years of exposure to Auckland's humid 

conditions have caused serious damage 

which will require many months of 

painstaking conservation work to remedy. 


en dowels or nails, and with a 

fill material of clay pressed 

over or between the joins. 

These planks have pulled apart 

and the clay has popped out 

leaving gaps. The paint is also 

weak with areas lost and others 

flaking off, due to the unstable 

substrates and loss of binder 

through time. 

The mummy was x-rayed in 

1971. The x-rays suggested it 

was a female body and gave 

the age range. Unfortunately 

no exciting amulets were 

revealed under the wrappings. 

Early in its New Zealand sojourn 

a historian translated what was 

thought to be her name as 'Ta 

Sedgemet", She Who Hears. 

However this has since been 

questioned. An expert in 

Egyptology has recently examined the coffin and 

will translate any hieroglyphs still visible. There 

are some recognizable images: the four sons of 

Horus and a winged scarab. The images are in 

lines in imitation of the wrapping of bandages, 

and patterns of symbols are repeated on left 

and right sides. 

The coffin is wood, made from timber from a 

common tree in Egypt, the sycomore fig (Ficus 

sycomorus). Tenons for fastening the lid to the 

base are made from a harder, redder wood, 

which is an Acacia species. Coarse clay like mate-


rial has been used to fill gaps in the wood and to 

mould the shape of the coffin. The entire surface 

has been painted in black carbon based paint 

and the hieroglyphics are painted in orpiment, 

which is a yellow pigment. Age and deterioration 

of the paint has caused the yellow to fade to a 

dull greyish-brown. The face is painted realistically 

with earth based pigments and calcite, over 

a finer ground of calcite. 

To begin the process of preparing the mummy 

and its coffin for any future display in the public 

galleries the team of conservators at the Museum 

has firstly collected information. Forest Research, 

Rotorua, identified the wood and Carbon 14 dating 

of the linen in the bandages and the coffin 

wood has been done through Waikato University. 

They have used microchemical spot tests and 

Polarized Light Microscopy to identify the linen, 

pigments and other materials. The binders in the 

paint systems have yet to be identified. A glossy 

sheen on isolated areas of the coffin and on the 

bandages may possibly be resin. As with many of 

these scientific areas there is an expert in this 

narrow field of coffin materials. The Museum conservators 

hope to be able to get assistance from 

a scientist in the U.K. who is an expert in the area 

of analysis of adhesives, resins, gums and binders 

in ancient Egypt. The areas of wood that are rotten 

will be consolidated. Flaking paint will be 

tacked down with an adhesive but careful consideration 

will be needed to choose the appropriate 

adhesive for this or which system of application 



The four sons of Horus face Osiris, the 

god of the underworld. The falcon 

headed Horus stands behind them. 

These four protected the mummified 

organs from harm. The winged scarab symbolises the sun in its moment of 

rebirth, at dawn, after its dangerous nightly journey through the underworld. 


will be most suitable (e.g. misting, 

by brush, syringe, etc.) Whichever 

method is chosen it will be slow 

and repetitive. The textile will 

probably cause the most difficulty. 

It is the most fragile material 

and even removing the salts from 

the surface will further disrupt 

fibres of the fabric. 

When the mummy goes back on 

display it will need to be protected 

from the agents of deterioration: 

light and photo-oxidation, temperature, 

humidity, and atmospheric pollutants, and 

mechanical damage through handling or attack 

from insect or mould. Most of these can be controlled 

through the construction of a hermetically 

sealed case filled with a nitrogen gas environment. 

This will provide an inert atmosphere that 

will considerably increase the life of the object. 

The control of temperature and humidity within 

the case will be achieved with humidity buffers 

and will halt the problem of efflorescing salts. 

Although very faded from the original deep black and 

bright yellow it is still possible to see the tracery of wings by 

the left ear. These protective wings belong to the vulture 

goddess, Nekhbet, which was an image often used on coffins. 


12


The oxygen free environment will minimize photooxidation 

of the susceptible organic materials 

and reduced lighting levels will further decrease 

deterioration. Likewise mould and insect attack 

will not be a threat in controlled conditions such 

as these. 

The Museum's team of conservators has had many 

years of specialised training. The training for conservation 

is a degree in the Conservation of 

Cultural Materials and at present is not available 

in NZ. Our conservators trained in Australia and 

Canada. They are Objects Conservators which 

means that they have an understanding of the 

makeup of all sorts of materials e.g. the mummy 

is a combination of organic (wood, textile, gums, 

resins, human remains) and inorganic substances 

(pigment, clay, calcite). Conservation involves 

both remedial work, i.e. treatments -which prima- 

TE TOKI A TAPIRI 




rily involve preservation through stabilising the 

deteriorative factors, and preventative, which 

encompasses things like control of environmental 

conditions (temperature, humidity, pollution, pests), 

correct handling, etc. At times it can be dangerous 

because of the necessary use of chemicals, 

and residual materials left on objects from past 

treatments, but they take safety precautions like 

wearing gloves, goggles, masks and work in the 

fume cupboard when necessary. Conservation 

training also involves the study of materials, and 

this includes not only the chemical and physical 

makeup of objects, but of adhesives, solvents and 

other chemicals that they may use so that they 

know how things are going to be affected by various 

materials. 

Our brave conservators don't seem to believe in 

the mummy's curse!!! Stoic but foolish people. 

Te Toki a Tapiri is the last of the great Maori war canoes. With 

the hull adzed out of a single huge totara log, the canoe is 

25m long and can carry 100 warriors. It was built about 

1836 for Te Waka Tarakau of Ngati Kahungunu, who lived near 

Wairoa in Hawkes Bay. Its name commemorates Tapiri, a famous 

ancestor of Tarakau. Before it was finished, the canoe was 

exchanged for a famous cloak. 

After the prow, stern and side strakes were 

carved the canoe was presented to Tamati Waka 

Nene and his brother Patuone of Ngapuhi. In 

1853 Te Toki a Tapiri was sold to members of 

Ngati Ata. In 1863, following the outbreak of 

war in the Waikato, Government forces seized 

the waka, even though Ngati Te Ata had not taken 

part in the fighting. Ngati Te Ata accepted crown 

compensation for this transgression. 

A British sailor made an unsuccessful attempt to 

blow up the canoe while it lay on a beach at 

Onehunga. In 1869 the canoe was restored, and 


became the highlight of a regatta on the 

Waitemata Harbour organised for the visit of 

Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. 

Ngati Whatua of Orakei later looked after the 

canoe until it was presented to Auckland Museum 

by the New Zealand Government in 1885. To 

move the canoe from its Orakei landing place to 

the Princess street building required cunning strategy. 

Firstly a cart was wheeled onto the beach at 

low tide over a corduroy slab track. At the next 

high tide the floating canoe was manoeuvred 

onto the cart and dragged inland at low tide. Its


home was to be a lean-to structure built onto the 

side of the main building as there was no room 

inside as yet. This was not the end of its travels 

however and the move to the Museum on Domain 

Hill proved just as tricky and involved some 

knocking down of 

walls. Fortunately the 

uncompleted back 

wall of the latest 

Museum allowed 

easy access for such 

a long craft. 

Since then it has been 

a key component of 

the impressive Maori 

galleries, diligently 

guarded from harm 

especially during 

World War II when 

carefully placed 

sand bags cushioned 

Te Toki against any 

possible bomb damage. 




Te Toki a Tapiri, resting on a specially modified flatbed truck, is manoeuvred through a gap in the Princes Street annex 

wall. This the first small step in the drive to the new Museum on the hill. 

Auckland Museum art school's tutor Kenneth 

Watkins probably used Te Toki a Tapiri as a 

model for his 1888 painting of the Phantom 

Canoe of Lake Tarawera which is now held in the 

Auckland Art Gallery. 

Te Toki a Tapiri during W.W. II carefully cushioned against falling debris in the event of 

enemy attacks on Auckland. 


14





TAUMATA ATUA - AN ABIDING PLACE OF THE SPIRIT 

THE DISCOVERY AND RECLAIMING OF A KUMARA GOD 

The Maori world was carefully regulated as to when and how 

food related activities took place. Rongo the god of agriculture 

needed to be honoured with the correct ceremonial procedures if 

the crops were to be successfully grown each year. The knowledge of 

how to conduct such ceremonies was entrusted to the tohunga who 

used specially prepared tools and ensured that all behaved appropriately, 

not only during the ceremony but also throughout the season. 

Sometimes a carved stone figure was placed in kumara gardens. The 

powerful male god Rongo was summoned by the tohunga to take up 

residence there and watch over and encourage the growth of the plants. 

In Auckland much of the physical evidence of 

Maori gardening practices has long 

since been obliterated by European 

farming techniques initially and 

encroaching housing development 

subsequently. Every now and then 

a combination of fortuitous circumstances 

reveals a glimpse of 

the past. Such was the case with 

the carved stone kumara figure 

from Onehunga. 

James Ah Mu, a real estate representative, 

had been dealing 

with a property in Onehunga 

which was in the process of 

being developed. During the 

course of his visits he had 

noticed an apparently carved 

piece of basalt rock lying about on the rear of the 

section. He could see it was no ordinary lump of 

scoria as it had the appearance of a sitting human 

figure. It was intriguing. Evidently no one else seems 

to have appreciated its significance though as he 

found it about to be pitched into a rubbish skip 

some time later. He was able to rescue it just in the 

nick of time. Curiosity prompted him to bring it to 

the Museum to be examined. 

The serene scoria features of 

the Kumara god now watch over 

its own garden in Te Ao Turoa. 


When the Museum's archaeologist Nigel Prickett 

and ethnologist Roger Neich arrived to inspect 

the site they found the developers just in the 

process of demolishing the last remaining stone 

garden walls before flattening the whole 

area. The two scientists were surprised that 

an artefact of such mana (spiritual power) 

was still to be found lying abandoned 

close to where it had stood in ages past. 

Te Warena Taua, a Maori curator at the 

Museum, consulted his elders and was 

thrilled to discover they had a story 

that seemed to confirm such a carved 

figure was known in this area. Therefore 

it probably belongs to Te Wai-o-hua. 

Since its arrival in the Museum it has 

fared much better than ignominious burial 

in a rubbish skip. Firstly it sat as a 

sentinel in the Maori Gallery illustrating an 

Auckland regional art style and now it sits where it 

may feel really at home, in the beautiful Te Ao 

Turoa, the year 2000 Maori Natural History 

Gallery. Here it watches over a small kumara garden 

which incorporates a low whare kumara 

(kumara storage hut), its lichened features hinting 

at ages of patient guardianship.


MITSUBISHI ZERO FIGHTER 




This smart little plane was the finest shipboard fighter in the world 

during the first year of the Pacific phase of World War II. It 

was the first fighter plane able to be launched from a ship, capable 

of defeating its land-based opponents. Its world wide fame was 

won in a series of astounding victories against all types of land-based 

and carrier-based Allied aircraft during the first six months of fighting 

following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour. The Zero's designers 

had emphasised lightness, range and manoeuvrability, largely at 

the expense of safety devices such as pilot armour and self-sealing 

fuel tanks. Although it had become largely obsolescent by 1943, it 

remained in production until the end of the war. Even today, the Zero 

remains the symbol of Japanese airpower during the Pacific War. 

The Zero got its name because in 1937 Japan 

began to identify its military equipment by the 

last digit of the year of its introduction into service. 

1940 - the Zero's year - was the year 2600 

by the Koki calendar, the one traditionally used 

by the military, based on the mythical founding 

of the Japanese dynasty. The calendar in daily 

use was the Showa based on the year Hirohito 

became emperor. Showa means "Enlightened 

Peace", so possibly not the most suitable of calendars 

to refer to in military terms! 

The Zeros were so successful initially that its performance 

was hugely exaggerated. So few were 

shot down during the early war period that it 

was impossible to examine and analyse captured 

or wrecked aircraft. Even the intense aerial 

battle above Pearl Harbour only resulted in 

the loss of nine Zeros, none of which were recoverable 

in recognizable form. The situation 

changed by 1942 when several shot down Zeros 

were salvaged and the allies could examine 

them to discover their true shortcomings. 

By September 1945 the tide had turned against 

the Japanese in the Pacific War. No Japanese 

planes had been sighted near Bougainville for 

over a year when the RNZAF Intelligence unit 

heard of a Zero apparently in airworthy condition 

on the Southern tip of the island. The aircraft 

had been caught on the ground by allied 

bombers. Inspection showed that it had been 

severely damaged and, unable to take off, had 

been hidden near the landing strip. As a morale 

Piva, Bougainville, 19 September 1945. RNZAF airmen 

inspect the Zero. Part of the surrender colour scheme, an 

application of white on the front, can be clearly seen. 


16


exercise it was decided to try and make the 

plane airworthy again. The engine worked fine 

and with assistance of some 60 to 70 technical 

personnel, the plane was soon ready to fly once 

more. A captured Japanese pilot agreed to test 

fly it and ferry it back to Rabaul. However a 

veto was put on these plans by the Surrender 

Commission who, as suggested by P.V. Lewis 

(Journal of Aviation Historical Society of N.Z., 

1985), may have had some vision of a kamikase 

style gesture at the end of the flight. 

The only other option of transporting the aircraft 

back to Piva base was across winding jungle 

tracks, finishing the journey by barge. As there 

was no pressing official need for the Zero it 

seemed as if it might after all be left to rot on 

the spot. Enter Wing Commander Bill Kofoed, his 

interest piqued and possibly his skill challenged. 

Assisted by a Japanese pilot standing on the 

wing, identifying and translating the labels for 

the cockpit controls, he had a cursory introduction 

to the plane. Trusting he had not been maliciously 

misled, this intrepid flyer decided he was now 

ready to leave the ground and fly it back himself. 

The plane's undercarriage was left down the 

entire flight, which fortunately took only 32 minutes, 

and passed without incident. 




RNZAF personnel reassembling the Zero in its new gallery on the top floor of 

Auckland War Memorial Museum in 1959. 


Even though the RNZAF held several other captured 

Japanese planes in various locations, the 

arrival of the Zero in the skies above Piva base 

caused quite a stir. To avoid dangerous confusion 

the plane had been painted in surrender colours; 

white beneath and green crosses on the sides 

and under the wings. Subsequently all the captured 

planes were moved to Jacquinot Bay in 

New Britain. Later still some were gifted to the 

Australian Airforce while a Japanese float plane 

in the Bay developed a leak and sank. There 

seemed to be little official interest so the decision 

to ferry the Zero back to New Zealand by 

boat came as somewhat of a surprise. The Zero 

travelled as deck cargo on the ferry Wahine, 

chartered to transport repatriated troops to 

New Zealand. 

Hobsonville airbase was its new home and some 

long overdue restoration work was undertaken. 

Plans for its new role as a tactical training tool 

for fighter pilots at Ardmore airbase or as an 

addition to the flying school at Wigram did not 

eventuate however, as spares were difficult to 

obtain. In fact despite optimistic reports of its 

readiness for action, the plane was involved only 

in taxiing trials. 

The arrival of the NZRAF's 

first jet at the end of 

1945 made the Zero look 

so dated that interest 

waned completely. 

The next years in the poor 

Zero's history saw it 

stashed in a corner, its 

tyres going flat. Then 

someone had the idea to 

offer it to Auckland 

Museum. The offer was


reluctantly accepted but due to transport difficulties 

and a lack of suitable space it had to be 

left mouldering at Hobsonville. By the early 

1950's it was parked in the open at the mercy of 

the weather, vandals and souvenir hunters. In 

1953 it was almost sold off as surplus stock until, 

by pure chance, someone remembered the 

promise to the Museum. It was left to corrode for 

several more years, only being displayed at two 

Easter shows and then ignominiously patched up 

for an Air Display at Ohakea in 1958. 

Finally in 1959, twelve years after the original 

offer and in far worse condition than in 1947, it 

was assembled by airforce personnel at the 

Museum premises. Now, in its newly redesigned 

2000 space it is finally able to be viewed as its 

original owners may have known it. As the conservation 

team cleaned and reconnected some 

THE FIRST GAOL 

Less than 2 months later the Surveyor General 

Felton-Matthew proposed that the waters be 

diverted to pass under the centre of Queen 

Street and become the principal sewer for the 

town. This plan was followed and the newly 




controls the original colours and poems scribbled 

in Japanese under the wing emerged from under 

the layers of paint. 

The last Japanese pilot to fly our Zero, Sekizen 

Shibayana added an interesting chapter to the 

saga. When his badly damaged plane was 

being repaired by the Japanese ground technicians 

they, realising that Sekizen would be sent 

out on a kamikazi mission carrying a large 

bomb, worked so deliberately slowly that the 

end of the war overtook them. In a letter to 

Auckland Museum in 1997 Sekizen wrote, "If the 

end of the war had been a few days later than 

15th August I am sure that I would have already 

gone to the Sea of Solomon Islands and I would 

be sleeping in that sea today." He visited 

Auckland for the 2000 opening of the newly 

refurbished "Scars on the Heart" gallery. 

Archaeology in Auckland's Queen of Streets. 

Auckland's new settlement of 1840 was nestled into a fern covered 

gully between rolling hills. One of the first descriptions of 

the area was made by 27-year-old James George, an Australian 

baker out to make his fortune in the new capital. He observed 

pohutukawa fringing the Waitemata harbour, tea-tree, flax, fern and 

toetoe cloaking the hills and a tidal creek emptying onto the shore. This 

creek ran along the western side of Queen Street and was deep enough 

to allow up to 10 boats to moor safely at the point where Queen Street 

intersects Swanson Street today. At first the stream provided fresh drinking 

water for the small settlement but this was soon to change. 

diverted stream was renamed the Ligar Canal. In 

later years letters to the newspaper described 

the stench created by the canal's contents as 

"strong enough to knock a grown man flat". 

Travelling up the valley was made uncomfortable 


18


by areas of swampy ground here and there. It 

was on a boggy spot on the outskirts of the 

fledgling town that the gaol was built in early 

1841. Where Queen, Victoria West, Elliot and 

Darby Streets meet was the unpleasant and 

unhealthy spot where the gaol and the courthouse 

stood. Records show that the goal remained on 

this spot, along the east bank of the stream, until 

1860. The complex consisted of a guard house, 

cell-blocks, a hard labour yard, stocks, gallows 

and, fronting onto Queen Street, the courthouse. 

Men and women could be tried, sentenced, 

hanged and buried, conveniently all in 

the one area. Six executions took place and the 

bodies were buried on the Queen/Victoria 

Street corner. 

Initially building methods in Auckland disturbed 

the original ground contours only a little. It was 

not until basements became a common part of 

building techniques in the late 1880s that larger 

changes were made. In 1987, 100 years later, a 

21-storey building was scheduled for construction 

on the old gaol site, which by now had been 

engulfed in the heart of Auckland's crowded business 

district. The huge excavations for the foundations 

of such a large building would effectively 

wipe away all trace of the original ground surface. 

Fortuitously the New Zealand Historic 

Places Trust was able to arrange an archaeological 

dig, led by Simon Best, on the newly cleared 

block of ground. They were given just under 2 





weeks to find out as much as they could before 

the new development began. 

The cleared site resembled a large pit lined with 

concrete and basalt retaining walls. Across the 

centre ran the slightly raised Theatre Lane. As 

much of the surface concrete would be needed to 

support heavy building equipment later, the 

archaeologists elected to examine small areas 

close to the lane. They hoped to uncover evidence 

of the various buildings on the site and perhaps 

even find the Ligar Canal. 

They were richly rewarded for their efforts. Down 

the excavated well were the remains of metal 

buckets with rope still attached. Under the lane 

area were part of the debtor's cell-block foundation, 

the prison kitchen and the hard labour 

yard with broken rock fragments which the shackled 

prisoners had sweated to crush. Many artefacts 

such as chamber-pot pieces, a door lock, 

various cooking implements and animal bones 

hinted at the life which prisoners experienced. 

Amazingly enough not only was the Ligar Canal 

uncovered (lined at this point with basalt blocks) 

but below it was found the original contour of the 

streambed. Maori digging implements and a 

kiore-gnawed hinau berry illustrated even earlier 

activities in the valley. The remains of freshwater 

mussels and perfectly preserved leaf litter 

were carbon dated and enabled scientists to 

establish that these plants had tumbled into the 

water 800 years ago. 

The courthouse building fronted onto Queen Street (to the left in the sketch). The gallows facing Victoria Street West 

are visible to the right in front of the gaol wall close to the little bridge.


Elliott Street 

Old ground 

surface 

One of the more macabre finds in the streambed 

just beyond the gaol fence was a tangle of dog 

skeletons, some with collars still attached. The city 

pound had operated here. Newspapers of 1840 

were full of stories about "the dog nuisance". 

Hanging or poisoning seemed to have been the 

preferred method of disposal for the unfortunate 

dogs caught. 

We can see how archaeology was able to provide 

extra information that was not available in 

the old records. Although the material recovered 

in the nine days of excavation was just a fraction 




A cross section of the 1987 archaeological dig at the Queen Street gaol, from Digging up the Past by Michael Trotter 

and Beverley McCulloch. The contour of the original, Pre-European, streambed was uncovered as well as the brick lined 

course of the Ligar Canal. Today the level of both Queen and Elliot Streets is much higher than 100 years ago. 

Some of the more robust discoveries from the gaol site 

are on display in the City Gallery. Evidence of footwear, 

a lantern, some eating utensils and stone chips from prisoner 

labour are shown here. 

Fill 

Theatre Lane 

Ligar Canal 

Queen Street 

of what might have been exposed in a more reasonable 

amount of time, important new details 

were brought to light. These were of some of the 

buildings and features of the gaol and the personal 

belongings of the prisoners and their 

guards and beneath that a slice of Maori life 

lived long before Europeans settled. Simon Best 

kept the Museum archaeologists up to date with 

the exciting finds his excavation team were 

uncovering and several visits were made to 

inspect the artefacts as they were extracted from 

the smelly mud. After the various specialists had 

cleaned and analysed them, conservators had 

stabilised the fragile pieces, and the reports had 

been written, it was time for the collection to come 

to the Museum. 

Here, in the City Gallery, a selection of the 

strongest artefacts is displayed so that everyone 

can see the evidence of gaol life in the earliest 

days of the city. The remaining pieces have been 

carefully packed in acid free materials in readiness 

for a time when they too might be displayed 

and for those interested in historical archaeology 

to study further. As many other city buildings continue 

to be demolished, archaeologists use the 

gaol site collection to help identify what they find 

beneath the old foundations. 


20


Pollen: enormously long lived and shape specific 

to each different plant, pollen can allow us to 

glimpse back millions of years. It can give information 

on vegetative cover, climate changes, 

food production, and the diet of ancient civilizations 

through coprolite analysis. 

Pottery: easy and cheap to make, has been found 

in sites up to10,000 years old. Although it was 

often broken in daily use it is an extremely 

durable material and does not dissolve. Pottery 

shapes indicate its function which in turn gives 

insight into daily life or ceremonial activities in a 

particular community. 

Experimentation: How was an ancient pot glazed, 

what techniques were used and which raw materials? 

Experiments using ancient firing methods 

could provide the answers. 

Replication: From evidence such as tomb decoration 

or painted objects such as pottery it may be 

possible to recreate a dwelling or craft using similar 

materials and construction techniques. 

Reconstruction: Mending, rebuilding or recreating 

something old may highlight the types of skills 




SCIENTIFIC TOOLS OF THE ARCHAEOLOGIST 


Many different scientists are called upon today when an 

archaeological dig begins. Specialists in different fields may 

be consulted to provide analysis of varied aspects. 

Pyramids of the Merotic rulers 300BC. They were built by the 

kings of Napata who revived pyramid burial customs many 

centuries after the pharaohs had stopped building them. 

needed for this work. 

Burials and bodies: Bones and teeth can provide 

evidence of occupations or health history and 

even surgical techniques. Wear on the teeth may 

reveal dietary habits. Chemical markers can be 

used to trace the region of birth. Many diseases 

leave tell tale marks on growing bones to provide 

evidence of childhood illness or periods of 

famine. Clothing and jewellery can be reproduced, 

dyes investigated and materials may indicate 

contact with neighbouring areas or much further 

afield. Grave goods, simple or immensely 

complex, have given archaeologists some spectacular 

insights. 

In the 1920's, Ferlini, an Italian explorer looking 

for treasure, blew the tops off more than 40 of 

the 50 perfectly preserved pyramids of Meroe in 

the Sudan. Since those days of slash, bash and 

grab the gold, archaeological methods have 

become a great deal more sensitive and careful. 

Progressively new techniques and disciplines 

have entered the field of archaeology the most 

recent being the use of D.N.A evidence. 

To broaden the picture of life in the past archaeologists 

may call upon climatologists or perhaps 

plant biologists to identify agricultural practices 

near a site and work out why a certain group 

ceased living in a previously advantageous area. 

Experts in pottery may trace the origins of the 

clay used in the pot shards found and thus puzzle 

out trade routes used. Experts in building practices 

may reconstruct the shape of an iron-age hut from 

faint shadows on the ground in aerial photographs. 

When Lord Carnavon entered Tutankhamun's 

tomb he realised the ultimate fantasy. He 

walked into an undisturbed Egyptian Pharaoh's


burial chamber brimful of 

everything that might be 

needed in the afterlife. 

Amongst the sumptuously 

carved and golden artefacts 

were three-dozen plain pottery 

clay jars. The wine that 

had once filled them had 

long since evaporated but 

the meticulous labels detailed 

the year and place of the 

vintage, even the winemakers' 

names and allowed 

Egyptologists to establish the 

length of Tutankhamun's reign to be nine years. 

Most of the wine came from the estate of Aton, 

previously owned by Akhnaten his heretical predecessor 

who had caused dramatic disruption 

among the priesthood by worshipping only one 

god. Tutankhamun probably had a preference 

for dry wines as only a few of the carefully 

stored bottles held sweet wine. From the beautifully 

painted walls of new kingdom tombs 

archaeologists have been able to follow 

Egyptian wine makers in action. 

By chemically analysing the stains and residues in 

ancient amphorae, brewing specialists have 

attempted to recreate past wines. A combination 

of archaeology and recipes inscribed on 

cuneiform tablets allowed a brewing company in 

San Francisco to reproduce an ancient Sumerian 

beer. Beer was used extensively both ceremonially 

and in daily life. From a hymn written in honour 

of Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of brewing 

comes a virtual instruction manual of steps to follow. 

For example: 

You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar… 

You are the one who spreads the cooked mash… 

The filtering vat…makes a pleasant sound… 

When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat, 

It is like the 

onrush of the 

Tigris and the 

Euphrates 




The grape harvest shown in this tomb scene follows the processes of picking and 

crushing the fruit. The resulting juice pouring into a basin is carefully monitored by 

another worker and will finally be fermented in the waiting wine jars. 

This ancient style beer was served at a brewing 

convention where the delegates drank it in the 

proper Sumerian way; with long straws like the 

gold and lapis lazuli straws found in lady Puabi's 

tomb at Ur. 

Above, wine jars in Tutankhamun's tomb. Most of the wine 

came from the Delta area. The new season's wine was 

stored in jars carefully sealed with wet clay caps and 

inscribed with the year of vintage, the vineyard and their 

quality. Left, label detail from one of Tutankhamun’s wine 

jars, written in hieratic, a less formal script than hieroglyphics. 


22

Sharing the Past curriculum links 

This section is divided into the learning levels. 

Curriculum links are made but may not be all 

inclusive. 

The suggested learning activities will provide 

opportunities to gain the minimum knowledge 

required by students before visiting the Museum. 

These are samples indicators of the type of 

activity that may be carried out. 

Teachers may wish to select material from different 

levels, according to the ability of their 

students. 

CULTURE AND HERITAGE CURRICULUM 

Culture and Heritage Curriculum Level 1 

Achievement Objectives and Indicators 

Students will demonstrate knowledge and understandings 

of: 

Features of the culture and heritage of their own 

and other groups: 

* Describe similarities and differences between 

features of their own culture and heritage and 

those of other groups. 

Customs and traditions associated with participation 

in cultural activities: 

* Give examples of customs and traditions associated 

with cultural activities; 

* Describe the customs and traditions associated 

with an activity from a particular culture 



of: 

Ways in which communities reflect the cultures 

and heritages of their people: 

Students could demonstrate such knowledge and 

understandings when they: 

*Describe ways community activities (e.g. on 

23 Curriculum Links 



special occasions) and features of the community 

(e.g. buildings) reflect the cultures and heritages 

of the people who live there; 

*Explain how certain features of the community 

(e.g. historic places, street names, place names, 

museums) reflect people's heritage. 

How people interact within their cultural groups 

and with other cultural groups: 



*Describe customs and traditions that influence 

the ways in which people interact within a cultural 

group. 



of: 

How practices of cultural groups vary but reflect 

similar purposes: 



*Describe similarities and differences in the 

ways cultural groups meet common needs; 

*Identify similarities in the purposes and activities 

of cultural practices across a range of cultural 

groups; 

*Describe how cultural practices reflect tradition 

(e.g., through gift-giving, rites of passage, food 

gathering and preparation). 



of: 

Why and how individuals and groups pass on and 

sustain their culture and heritage: 



*Describe various ways in which cultural practices 

and heritage are recorded and passed on 

to others (e.g., through myths, legends, stories,

curriculum links 

carvings, paintings, songs, schooling); the impact 

of the spread of new technology and ideas on 

culture and heritage. 



*Identify changes that have occurred in aspects 

of culture and heritage as a result of technological 

change; 

*Give examples of ways technological change 

has exposed cultures to a range of ideas. 



of: 

The effects of cultural interaction on cultures and 

societies: 



*Explain the different types of relationships that 

can exist between cultural groups (e.g., assimilation, 

segregation, integration, genocide, biculturalism, 

multiculturalism); 

*Describe ways in which cultural interaction can 

enrich communities and societies; 

PLACE AND ENVIRONMENT CURRICULUM 

Place and Environment Curriculum Level 2 



of: 

How people's activities influence places and the 

environment and are influenced by them: 



*Give examples of ways people's activities 

(e.g., food storage, gardening, communications, 

defence) are influenced by the location and 

physical features of a place; 

*Describe how people can restore or enhance 

natural or cultural features of the environment. 




How and why people describe places and environments 

in different ways: 



*Explain what place names reveal about places 

and environments; 

*Explain why people choose to record particular 

features of places and environments. 



of: 

How different groups view and use places and the 

environment: 



*Identify different types of environment in which 

people live (e.g., tundra, plains, atolls, war-torn, 

polluted); 

*Explain how people seek to overcome the limitations 

of places and environments; 

*Give examples of different ways in which people 

use the same places and environments. 

How and why people express a sense of belonging 

to particular places and environments: 



*Identify features of places that reflect people's 

relationships to the places (e.g., monuments, 

plaques, street names); 

*Explain why people return to particular places 

(e.g., schools, holiday places, birthplaces); 

*Describe ways people remember places and 

environments (e.g., through photographs, diaries) 

and ways people express their feelings for particular 

places (e.g., through poetry, paintings, 

music). 


Curriculum Links 

24



of: 

How places reflect past interactions of people 

with the environment: 



*Identify features of a landscape that reflect 

people's past activities; 

*Explain how features of a landscape may 

result from interactions between people and the 

environment; 

*Explain why some features resulting from past 

interactions endure while others disappear (e.g., 

considering the effects of legislation, isolation, 

durability of the features, and significance of 

the features to people). 

Why and how people find out about places and 

environments: 



*Identify different reasons people have for 

finding out about places and environments; 

*Give examples of different ways people find 

out about places and environments (e.g., through 

direct experience, discussion, books, television); 

*Explain the reasons why individuals or groups 

(such as explorers, navigators, or groups of 

travellers) have undertaken journeys and 

recorded ideas about places and environments. 



of: 

Why particular places and environments are significant 

for people: 



*Describe factors (e.g., cultural, historical, geographical, 

aesthetic, economic, strategic) that 

influence the value that communities and nations 

attach to places and environments; 

25 Curriculum Links 




*Give examples of places and environments that 

are significant to particular communities and 

nations and explain their significance. 

TIME, CONTINUITY AND CHANGE CURRICULUM 

Time, Continuity and Change Curriculum Level 1 



of: 

Ways in which time and change affect people: 



*Give examples of changes that have affected 

family and community life (e.g., changes in 

clothing, transport, games, family activities, 

buildings, gathering food). 



of: 

How past events changed aspects of the lives of 

communities: 



*Explain the difference between the recent past 

and the distant past; 

*Identify events that people in a community 

experienced in the recent past and the distant 

past; 

*Give examples of ways that past events 

changed or affected the lives of communities. 

How and why the past is important to people: 



*Give examples of ways in which people are 

connected with their past; 

*Give examples of ways in which knowing 

about their past helps people to understand 

who they are;


*Explain why people are interested in the past. 



of: 

How the ideas and actions of people in the past 

changed the lives of others: 



*Give examples of why particular women, men, 

and children in the past are remembered (e.g., 

for their courage, inventiveness, creativity, 

charisma, use or abuse of power); 

*Describe people's ideas and actions that 

changed the lives of other people in particular 

times and places. 

How the past is recorded and remembered in different 

ways: 



*Identify ways people can find out about their 

past; 

*Explain how people's experiences and activities 

have been recorded in different time and place 

settings (e.g., through culture, language, technology, 

art); 

*explain what people in the present can learn 

PRE AND POST VISIT ACTIVITIES 

Year 1 - 3 

· Pose a question such as: Do you remember…. 

when you went to the beach last year? Did you 

bring back anything to remember it by? Make a 

class collection. 

· For home time develop a questionnaire for parents. 

Do they remember some special event from 

their childhood? Do they have some memento 

which serves as a reminder? 

· Collect some family 'treasures' or photographs 

and display with permission. 

· Interview or invite some grandparents or older 




about people in the past through records. 



of: 

Causes and effects of events that have shaped the 

lives of a group of people: 



*Describe events a group of people has experienced 

over time (e.g., natural disasters, wars, 

diseases and epidemics, cultural contacts); 

*Identify possible causes of particular events 

that people experience. 



of: 

How past events have influenced relationships 

within and between groups of people and continue 

to influence them: 



*Identify past events that have been important 

for particular communities, cultures, and nations; 

*Give examples of the ways in which past 

events influenced relationships between groups 

involved in those events. 

folk. Prepare questions well beforehand encouraging 

the open-ended type. 

· Compare chores today with those from the past. 

Ask selected elders to teach a skill which they 

used for their chore. e.g polishing silver, or making 

butter 

· Bury robust items in the sandpit. Later dig them 

up with the children and try to work out how the 

people lived. 

· Collect an imaginary family's rubbish (suitably 

cleaned and vetted). From this try to reach some 

conclusions about their lifestyle. 

· Display some old kitchen implements or tools. 

Curriculum Links 

26

Sharing the Past activity sheet 

Why are the tools so different from the ones we 

use today? 

· Collect and display some fossils or fossil pictures 

and pose the question "How was the world different 

then?" Research answers. 

·Encourage children to make their own holiday 

memorabilia collection to display. 

Year 4 - 6 

· Collect life histories (of great grandparents if 

possible). Write diaries about children's daily life 

based on knowledge gathered. 

· Make two time capsules. One a simulated version 

from the past (teacher collected), another 

assembled by today's children to be opened in 

the future. 

· Study an ancient civilization, e.g. Pompeii, Rome, 

Greece, Mesopotamia. Produce a play based on 

some event, perhaps a fiesta day or a religious 

celebration. 

· Become familiar with some of the archaeological 

evidence left on an abandoned living site. 

Pretend you are digging on your school site one 

hundred years into the future. Draw a simulated 

archaeological map. Detail what was found. 

· Use the Internet to play some simulated archaeological 

games. The Ontario Museum has an 

interesting site: 

http//www.rom.on.ca/digs/munsell/ 

· Make a time line showing tools or other equipment 

and how things have changed over time. 

Predict how they will function in the future or if 

they will be used at all. 

· Rubbish bin archaeology. Create a bin shape, 

each day glue, or pin drawn rubbish onto the bin 

but cover the previous days rubbish. End by 

uncovering the week's result and analyse daily 

trends. Can you do this in reality? Find out who 

uses rubbish to gather evidence and what can be 

found out. 

· What kinds of things do archaeologists find? 

What rots and what remains? Bury food and less 

fragile articles well before your study, predict 

then dig up to prove or disprove theories. 

· How do things from the past become buried? 

Make a list: rubbish buried, deliberate (graves 

animals, people), hiding valuables in war time e.g 

carvings which decorated Maori buildings, laying 

27 Activity Sheet 



PRE AND POST VISIT ACTIVITIES (Cont.d) 

foundations, natural disasters (e.g. Titanic), accidental 

(windblown leaves, volcanic ash etc.) 

· Study our own version of Pompeii, the Buried 

Village near Rotorua, which was buried during 

Tarawera's eruption. 

Years 7-9 

· Organize a visit to a retirement village and 

interview willing residents about their early lives. 

Prepare questions beforehand to encourage 

variety. Survey toys, tools, kitchen equipment, etc 

compared to today. Display as a museum might. 

· Study your local area. Use local historians, 

library records, street names and buildings to 

gain ideas. Build a 3-D model of the area or a 

map with overlays to note the changes. 

· Playing dead. One child lies on the floor surrounded 

by all the things s/he would want to take 

to the After-life. Make an outline for the record. 

Imagine excavating this grave 1000yrs on.*What 

would decompose and what would be left? 

*What could archaeologists say about this person's 

status, job, age, and cause of death? *What 

could be said about the society in which this person 

lived, technology, money, literacy, and gender 

equality? Make a second much depleted outline. 

· Examine a handbag's contents. *What does it 

tell you about wealth, age, health, gender and 

the society of its owner? *If stolen and thrown 

away what would survive into the next century? 

Divide into two groups write a report. One on the 

person now and one if found next century. 

· Use Digging up the Past by M. Trotter and B. 

McCulloch to research New Zealand's archaeological 

discoveries. Each pair could research a 

site, an artefact or detail some of the evidence 

used to trace the Polynesian settlement of the 

Pacific. Or each pair could choose an aspect of 

discovery e.g. bones in N.Z and what they told us, 

or tools or moa hunters’ sites, or ornaments which 

show how Maori lived. 

· Research an ancient civilisation. What evidence 

can be used to describe daily life? Is there something 

you can't find out? Why is this?

activity sheet 



CLASSROOM ACTIVITY SHEET 1 

Layers 

Layers 

Fill and 

rubble 

Soil 

with tree 

evidence 

Modern garden soil 

This is a cross-section of an area somewhere in New Zealand. 

Old tennis court 


· What happened recently in level 1? Can you think of any reason why the old tennis court from 1930 

was buried? 

· What can you say about the activity that went on in Level 2? What do you know about what was 

happening in New Zealand in the early part of the 19th century? 

· Who were the people who lived in the deepest layer? How do you know? 

These are some of the artefacts found during an archaeological dig of this site. Decide which layer 

each one was most likely found in. Where will the Coca Cola can be found? 

· What will the next 100 years bring? Add another layer to this diagram and sketch in what you think 

will be discarded and will be preserved for archaeologists in the year 2100 to discover. 

Glass Coca 

Cola bottle 

Kerosene 

lamp 

Shells 

Chamber pot 

Paua shell 

Hangi pit 

Greenstone tiki 

1849 stone wall 

Bone fish hook 

Metal beer 

bottle cap 

Demolished stone wall 

1849 

rubbish pit 

Mrs Pott’s iron 

Stone adze 

blade 

Iron kettle 

Kapeu, greenstone 

ear pendant 

Glass bottles with 

marble sttopper 

Post-hole with 

wooden post mould 

Natural subsoil 

Fun Ho metal 

toy car 

Clay pipe 

Coca Cola can 

Modern 

brick wall 

Level 1 

Level 2 

Level 3 

Dog tooth with 

drill hole 

China doll 

head 

Activity Sheet 

28


This activity has been developed from an original 

idea in Learning from Objects, an English 

Heritage Education Service resource book. 

The aim is to gain some practice in looking closely 

at a single object. You can begin by asking 

questions about a very familiar object which most 

students will already have used. 

Here, a small number of questions have been constructed 

which can be applied exactly to both 

modern and ancient objects. While they show the 

range of possibilities you will decide how much to 

use. 

You can approach the questions on different levels 

according to the time available and the children's 

experience and abilities. 

Things to use in the exercise: 

'Big Mac' boxes. You can make a display of other 

packaging which utilizes cardboard in various 

ways. 

SOME QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT 

You can find out a lot by looking and feeling. 

Some questions need a little research and may 

even need a buying field trip (in your own time of 

course). 

Q 1. Can you tell what the object is used for? 

You will have to pretend you don't know and 

there is no writing on it. 

A: Its enclosed shape and lid suggest that it contains 

something. Solid or liquid? 





Looking at a 'Big Mac' box to find out about 20th century lifestyle. 

Q 2. Is it a common or rare object? 

A: Very common. We know because we've seen 

masses of them. This suggests there is a high 

demand for McDonald's food and that boxes are 

relatively easy to produce. 

Q 3. What material is it made from? Is it a natural 

material or man-made? 

A: Cardboard. Man-made material. We do not 

come across it in the natural world. This shows us 

that the technology exists to make new materials 

to suit our needs. 

Q 4. Is this a good material to use? 

Hold the box firmly between your hands for several 

seconds and it will let heat through. 

A: This material is not suitable for keeping something 

warm. It is easily squashed however. It is 

clean, light to handle and transport. Think of 

other packaged items made of cardboard. It is a 

very versatile material. These qualities are beneficial 

to both the company and the consumer. The 

material is biodegradable. 

Q 5. How has it been made? What does this tell us? 

A: The standard size and shape (remember we 

have seen lots of them so we know this), regular 

lettering, show us that it has been stamped out in 

one piece. You can relate this to cookie cutters 

and cutting of mass clothing. At one point the box 

can lie flat (good for stacking). This all suggests 

mass production. Mass production means a relatively 

cheap product for the consumer. When is it 

glued together do you think? Can you see production 

line potential there?


Looking at a 'Big Mac' box (continued) 

Q 6. What is the purpose of the different colours 

of the boxes or writing on the outside? 

A: Describing the contents and logo advertising 

company. Colour helps assistants to pick out right 

box quickly. Note 'Don't litter' image on the chips 

cartons. Litter details try and promote an environmentally 

friendly company. Do they use any 

other customer attracting techniques? 

Q 7. Do we see these boxes in other parts of the 

country? Do we see them abroad? 

A: McDonalds fast food restaurants originated in 

the United States and they are now found in 

many towns in this country. What about other 

countries? There is a high demand for McDonald's 

products. In this respect it is clearly a successful 

company with extensive marketing networks. 

There is even a McDonald's at Pompeii (the new 

town, that is)! 

Q 8. What happens to the box after it has been 

used? 

A: It is intended to be thrown away. It has served 

its purpose and is disposable. 

Q 9. Do you think the box is a valuable object? 

What does 'valuable' mean? 

A: In monetary terms, the box is not of value. 

There are too many of them and they are not 

made in a precious material. The box may however 

become a collector's item in the future. It is 

of value to McDonald's (boxes don't need washing, 

hold together well, desirable qualities of 

material used, mass produced) and of value to 

the customer (convenience food can be eaten 

almost anywhere giving more freedom of choice). 




Note: There are at least 131 Internet sites which 

feature something to do with McDonalds. You 

could make up a did-you-know quiz to get some 

net surfing going on. 

Going further: 

Now translate the techniques for looking at a modern 

artefact into looking at objects from the past. 

Pottery is the most abundant find on an urban 

excavation. It is usually found as domestic debris, in 

sherds or broken pieces, but complete vessels are 

often found as grave goods in burials or as part of 

a sunken cargo. Its use as a dating tool makes it 

particularly valuable. 

A saucer or cup from the 19th century is quite easy 

to come by, will be quite familiar to many children 

and was in widespread use (raid great aunt's china 

cabinet). In ancient times e.g. Egypt, Rome etc. 

Amphorae were also traded, used domestically and 

placed in graves. 


30



Photo Interpretation 




These two photos were taken some years apart in 1889 and 1901. They are looking in the same 

direction up Auckland's Queen Street. 

· Find the right hand clock 

tower in the first picture 

and then look for it in the 

second photo. 

· What differences do you 

notice between the two 

photos that would indicate 

new inventions and new 

ways of doing things in 

1901? 

SIGNS: In 1889 a shop 

sign says 'Sailmaker'. Why 

were sails an important 

product at that time? 

In 1901 there is a sign on 

the left which says 

'Caution, walk around corners'. 

Who was this meant 

for: people or horses? 

· In the 1901 photo you 

can see different ways of 

moving goods and people. 

A handcart…What sorts of 

things might he be delivering 

to the chemist or to the 

Imperial Hotel further 

down? Lumpy sacks in a 

covered wagon…. What 

does the fact that the 

wagon is covered suggest 

about the contents of the 

sacks? What different way 

of packaging can you see 

in the nearest horse and cart? Can the tram travel at night? How do you know? How does it get its 

power? Why does it need tracks to travel along? (For a close-up view of the tram, look at page 43.) 

Extra for experts: Only 12 years separate these photos. Investigate what has changed in your neighbourhood 

in your lifetime. Make a display of any photos you found and make a before and after map 

of the area.





The Great Museum of Auckland 

Scenario: You have just discovered that the Olympics in the year 2020 will be held in Auckland. 

Your Job: To put on an exhibition showing the world what Auckland is all about. 

Things to think about: 

· What is the exhibition about? 

· Who is the exhibition for? Do they have any special needs? 

· What do you want people to learn from the exhibition? 

· Where will you have the exhibition? 

· What will you choose to go in the exhibition? 

Remember this is the future and Auckland will have changed from today! 

· How will you display the objects in the exhibition? 

· What information will you include? (Remember what you want people to learn!) 

· How will you make sure that people can get through the exhibition easily? 

· How will you advertise the exhibition? 

You have '6 months' to design your exhibition and show your idea to the public of Auckland. 

Here is your design sheet. Good Luck! 

This exhibition is about: 

People who will see the exhibition are: 

They might need special things like: 

I want people to learn these things: 



32





The Great Museum of Auckland (continued) 

I think these things should go into the exhibition: 

Here are some ways I could display the things in the exhibition: 

This is how I could tell people about the exhibition: 

This is a plan of where everything will be in the exhibition. It also shows where people can walk so 

that they don't get crowded. You might need to use a bigger piece of paper.







Shops in the past were very different. In this photo, taken inside a chemist shop, a shopkeeper is discussing 

something with one customer while the other is looking directly at the photographer. 

· What does the sign above the customer say? (ex is cut off the word in the last line) What are the 

letters made out of? What does this suggest they do in this shop that would never happen in a 

chemists shop today? 

· The shopkeeper is holding a pair of glasses. What else does this chemists do for its customers? 

· On the counter is a stand with toothbrushes. Think what you might buy in a chemist's today. Now 

try and imagine what could be in all those bottles. You could buy some ready made medicines even 

then as you can see by the photo of the little girl selling Stearns headache cures. 

Extra for experts: 

Research some herbal remedies then cook some up. Display in beautifully labeled bottles for your 

class OR try and find a product called Eno's in the supermarket. What is it used for? In the photo Eno's 

Fruit Salts are displayed behind the plump customer OR organise a trip to your local chemist take this 

photo and ask him to show you how his job is different today. 


34







One of the industries which employed many men was kauri logging. Kauri forests grew from 

Northland as far south as Kawhia Harbour. The tree had a straight, very thick trunk without side 

branches which meant its wood was free of knotholes and ideal for building. In fact many of the early 

houses in Auckland were made from this timber. The work was dangerous and loggers lived for months 

at a time in the forest before the logs could be dragged or floated down stream to their destination. 

· How are these oxen joined together? There are sixteen oxen altogether. What does this tell you 

about the log behind them? 

· Oxen can be quite stubborn. Can you find something in the photo that the drovers could use to get 

them moving faster? 

· What has been done to make the log easier to move along? How would the thin logs laid on the 

ground help? 

· Study the houses behind the oxen. Wooden planks or punga logs have been used for the walls, 

nikau palm leaves or shingles for the roofs. Which house would you rather live in? 

· Built touching the right side of the left hand house is a small shed with a very sloped roof. This is 

the chimney. You could stand inside. How have chimneys changed over time? 

Further thinking: 

1) What do you imagine was inside the house? Draw a plan as you imagine it would be. Which room 

found in our modern houses would probably not be inside? Why? 

2) Find out about cooking and entertainment in a bush camp like this. Also look at information about 

gum diggers, especially photographs which will help you find out more about the bush workers’ lives. 

3) What artefacts or parts of artefacts might have been left behind and what would still be identifiable 

if you were fossicking there today? 

4) Find out about timber workers today and if kauri and other scarce trees are still being felled.



Colonial Recipes 




For the early settlers of Auckland, each ship was greeted with joy, often because it brought supplies 

of familiar food and household goods. Bread was baked daily in most households. Butter was homemade 

or bought from a neighbour. Without refrigeration, food had to be stored carefully to keep it 

fresh. Letters sent to family and friends often requested seeds for growing vegetables. 

Some Colonial Recipes to try 

Measurements are in Imperial form: oz (ounce): 25 grams, lb (pound): 450 grams, pint: 600 ml 

Lemon Curd (also known as lemon honey) 

Yolks of 3 eggs, 2 ozs butter, 4 ozs sugar, juice & rind of 1 lemon. 

Put all into a pan & stir until it thickens. 

Damper 

3 large cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon 

of soda, 1 dessertspoon sugar. 

Mix all ingredients with cold water till smooth and pliable. Shape into loaf. Cook over hot coals for 

30 minutes. 

Barn Bread (A Traditional Welsh recipe) 

½ lb raisins, ½ lb sultanas, ½ lb flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 6 ounces 

brown sugar, ½ pint cold tea. 

Soak fruit overnight in cold tea. Next morning beat in sugar, then flour, baking powder and baking 

soda until well mixed. Pile into a loaf tin. Bake in a medium oven for approximately 1 hour or until 

done. Test with skewer. When cooked, leave to cool. 

Pumpkin Pie 

A Pumpkin, 6 eggs, 3 pints of milk, ½ pound of sugar, flavouring of mace and nutmeg. Puff Pastry. 

Cut the pumpkin, take out seeds and boil till soft. Press it through a sieve, and to a quart of the pulp 

add the above ingredients. Mix first the sugar, then the milk, then the yolks and whites of eggs beaten 

separately, and beat all together. Line a dish with puff-pastry, pour in the mixture and bake in a 

hot oven. Allow ¾ hour for pie to cook. 

Extra for experts: 

To cook colonial foods people needed many ingredients which were not found naturally in New 

Zealand (e.g., lemons, chickens for eggs, cows for milk and butter). Look in the recipes to decide which 

ingredients would be imported. How did they get here? Research the activities of the Acclimatization 

Society now known as the Fish and Game Council and the part they played in changing New 

Zealand's flora and fauna. 


36



Cottages of Early Auckland 

In early Auckland, most houses were made from wood and had just two rooms. A tiny shed was built 

behind the house, which was the toilet. Washing and cooking were both done in the living room. 

Later on people added kitchens, verandahs, bathrooms and inside toilets. 

1. Where would people cook in this house? Where would they sleep? Where would they eat? Why 

is the toilet outside? 

2. If you needed to enlarge this house what would you add on and where would you add it? 

3. If this house burned down what evidence might be left to show there was once a family living on 

that spot? 

4. Work out what all the different parts of this drawing were when the house was still standing. 

5. Draw a floor plan of your house, and add information about what the house is made from, what 

year it was built and if any additions were made. Add a photo of your house too. 


Stone garden 

wall 

Circle of bricks 

Broken tiles 

Large slab of 

rock 



If we took the roof off the cottage this 

is what we would see: 

T 

B 

Bricks and rubble 

Post holes 

V 

W 

L 

C 

Key: B - Bedroom 

L - Living 

T - Toilet 

V - Verandah 

C - Chimney 

W - Well 

Key (draw your own):



Mummy, mummy! Where is my mummy? 




Have you ever wondered why every time you eat salty foods you get thirsty? The answer is simple. Salt 

is a desiccant- it helps remove water from things, including human bodies. That is why, when Egyptians 

needed to preserve their dead for the Afterlife, they used a salt called Natron to dry the body out. 

Their religion included belief in many gods. Each god was represented by an animal on earth. You 

can try this process out yourself by mummifying a chicken (to represent an Ibis) or, if you are a bit 

squeamish, try it on an apple. The advantage of the apple mummy is that you can do this in groups 

and it only takes a week, but the advantage of using a chicken is that you follow the process more 

realistically, rubbing oils and spices into the skin and even wrapping it in bandages. (You can even 

have ceremonies and make it a bird shaped coffin). 

FOR THE APPLE MUMMY 

Materials: 

2 fresh apples 

large box of table salt 

large box of Epsom salts 

large box of baking soda 

knife 

8 plastic cups 

measuring cup 

large mixing bowl 

permanent marker 

roll of masking tape 

sensitive food scales 

piece of graph paper & pencil 

1. Peel and slice the apples into quarters so you end up with 8 pieces. Using the tape label each cup 

with "Starting Weight' and a number from 1 to 8. Then weigh each apple slice and record its weight 

on its numbered cup. 

2. Add exactly ½ cup baking soda to cup 1. Cover the apple completely. Then write "baking soda 

only" on its label. Fill cup 2 with ½ cup Epsom salts and label. Fill cup 3 with ½ cup table salt and 

label it. 

3. Repeat the procedure for cups 4 to 6 using a 50:50 mix of Epsom/table salt in cup 4, table salt/baking 

soda for cup 5, and baking soda/Epsom salts for cup 6. Make sure you label each correctly. 

4. In cup 7 mix 1/3 baking soda,1/3 Epsom salts & 1/3 table salt. Leave cup 8 alone as a control. 

Place the cups on a shelf out of direct sunlight and let them sit for 7 days. Then take out each slice (one 

at a time so you don't mix them up) brush off the salt, weigh, and record new weight on the cup. Do not 

rinse them in water or they will rehydrate! Subtract end weight from starting weight & record. 

Questions: Which apple piece had lost the most moisture? Which compound was the best at mummifying 

your apple? Would you have achieved the same, better or worse results if you had not peeled it or 

left it whole? What was the point of leaving one piece with no salt at all? Where did the moisture go? 

Can you confirm this? Try to find out about preserving food by pickling, drying salting and smoking. 

N.B. It is always a good idea to try out experiments before you let students loose on this. Be warned 

that the chicken mummy is quite odiferous until it is completely dried. You may wish to use knowledge 


38





gained in the apple recipes to try on the chicken. The following 

recipe is only one option. Or you may wish to stick 

with the apples and make apple coffin cases inventing your 

own apple ceremonies which incorporate an Egyptian 

Apple god. 

FOR THE CHICKEN MUMMY 

Materials: 

a whole chicken 

26 oz salt per chicken per week 

plastic gloves 

½ cup of spices per chicken per week (any strong sweet 

smelling spices will do) 

paper towels 

zip-lock freezer strength bags (2 litre capacity) 

gauze strips 

plastic leak-proof container to hold chicken in bag 

a weight record sheet 

1. Weigh the chicken. Then remove any entrails (Wear gloves for this. Especially in this era of salmonella 

chicken scares, hygiene during this process is most important). You may wish to preserve the 

entrails in smaller bags separately and later make canopic jars for them out of baby food jars. 

2. Under running water rinse inside and out until the water runs clear. Continue handling with fresh 

gloves. Dry very thoroughly with paper towels inside and out. Remember moisture will cause problems 

during mummification. 

3. Rub ½ of the spices all over and inside the bird. The stronger smelling spices the better as they 

are to mask the odour of decay which will occur. 

4. Rub salt thoroughly over and into the cavity, making sure that every inch is covered. Fill the cavity 

with salt. 

5. Place the chicken in a zip-lock bag, seal the bag and leave in a cool dry place out of the sun. As 

the chicken dries liquid will drain from the carcass into the bottom of the bag. 

6. Once a week for 4 or 5 weeks remove the chicken (wear gloves!). Weigh each time and record 

the weight. Dab the chicken clean and re-salt and re-spice each time. 

7. Repeat this process until no more liquid drains from the bird into the bag. 

8. When it is done weigh for the last time. Now rub in baby oil or suntan oil to keep the skin flexible, 

wrap it in bandages and decorate any way you please.

gallery activity sheet 

Find the classroom close to the elephant and sit on the 

benches. Look above the doorway opposite the blackboard. 

· How were children's clothes different then? 

· In the glass table find the book by the glasses. 

· Copy one word of the joined writing onto the 

blackboard to the right. 

Go to the toys collections area on the other side of the 

gallery. 

· Many children lost metal toys like this in gardens. They 

can tell us what transport was like in the past. 

· How is the shiny black car different from yours? 



MUSEUM GALLERY ACTIVITY SHEET YR 1-3 

Go to the Wild Child Gallery 

Look at the dental clinic. 

· What is the same and what is different about your dental 

clinic today? 

· Can you guess what some of the tools are for? 

Walk into the City Gallery (turn left at the entrance) 


Find the model of Queen Street on the left hand side. This model was made 

by using evidence from photographs and paintings. 

· The barrels were unloaded from a ship. Can you guess what might have 

been inside? 

· There was a windmill on the hill (near Grafton Bridge). It made flour for 

what? 

Gallery Activity Sheet 

40


41 Gallery Activity Sheet 



MUSEUM GALLERY ACTIVITY SHEET YR 1-3 (continued) 

Find the Ligar Canal and the gaol with the 4 on the door. These were both in Auckland's Queen St. in 1860. 

· Look in both sides and tick what was found when they dug there. 

Toy cars 

False teeth 

Shoe soles 

Look at the big wall map. This was the early shape of Auckland City. 


Gin bottle 

Dinner plate 

Bones 

Go upstairs to Colonial Auckland 1866 (stop at the main entrance) 

· Can you find where the wharf is sticking out into the harbour from the bottom of Queen Street? 

· Draw the shape from the map in the circle. It was the Albert Barracks for soldiers in 1860.






Turn left into the Gallery. We know all these shops were in Auckland from looking at photos of that 

time. Find the wall photo of Auckland Harbour in 1860. 

· How did the ships in this picture move? 

· Look in the shop to the left and find something to provide light on a ship. 

Go to the barrel outside Steers Hotel. Find this bootscraper 

near it. This was used to scrape mud from the soles of your 

shoes. 

· Try it out. 

Go into Brown & Campbell the general store. 

Look inside the shop that sells saddles and harness for horses. 

Horses had a harness around their head so the rider could steer. 

Where would the saddle go? 

· Where did these go on the horse? 

· If you found this in your garden, work out what would it be 

used for. 


42






Go to the Chemist next door. Bottles don't rot away but they often break and are thrown away. 

Blue coloured bottles held poison. 

· Find some poison bottles in the shop. 

· From the wall photos at the far end can you describe what the roads in Auckland were like? 

Go to the toyshop near the entrance. 

Which toys would children today never get for Christmas? 

Why not? 

Well done! 

You’ve completed 

the Trail and discovered the 

past at Auckland Museum 


?





GO TO CITY GALLERY 

Archaeologists use all kinds of evidence to find out about life in the past. 

Each display has a heading. Look ….. 

By… The Price of Auckland 


· Find a map of Auckland: look for Maungawhau the Maori name for Mt. Eden. The brown area 

was the size of Auckland at first. Round the corner on the lights map you can see Auckland 

grow. 

· Governor Grey used goods as payment for Auckland. Can you find the pipe and the tobacco 

that was paid? What else can you see? 

· Furniture can tell you about the past. What furniture can you find? 

By… Maori Foundations 

· What 2 different ways can you see of recording the mokos (tattoos) Maori people wore? 

By…Maori Trade 

Look at the model of Auckland's Queen Street. This model was made using evidence from photos 

and drawings. 

· What can you see in the model that you would not see in Queen St. today? 

· Find a windmill used to grind flour. Photographs show this stood just by Grafton Bridge. 

By… What to Bring 

All these things were brought by new settlers to N.Z. 

· Find something to pull out corks. What else can it be used to do? 

· Something you used on a ship. What was it for? 

· Something to decorate butter. What pattern would you get? 


44


By… The Ligar Canal 




Queen St. once looked like this photo with a smelly canal running down one side. Look at the model 

of it below the photo. Why was it smelly do you think? 

· Draw something that was found in the canal mud when they dug up Queen St in 1998. 

By … The Gaol (Door 4) 

This is a: 

These things were dug up from Queen St's old gaol area in 1987. 

From the items on display decide: 

· What the men wore and why 

· What they ate 

· What work they did 

By… City Building (opposite the gaol) 

· Can you find something to let smoke out of the roof? 

· Is it big enough for Santa and his sack? 



Read the label for more information.





By … Women's Work 

Many tools especially those made from iron have lasted to tell us about the past. 

· Sketch 2 objects and write what they were for. 

This was for: This was for: 

Today we use: Today we use: 

GO TO THE WILD CHILD GALLERY 

On the verandah display close to the elephant's head end of the gallery. 

· Choose an item that you think would not rot away. 

· What job was this for? 

· How did it work? 

Walk through the nursery area (with the pram) and stop by the gravestone. 

Graveyards give us important historical evidence. 

· How old were the two babies who died? 


· Fewer babies die young today. Why do you think so many more babies died in the 1870's? 

Walk to the bedroom end of the gallery. 

Collectors often leave their collections to a museum. 

· Look carefully at the things people have made collections of. Have you ever collected any of these 

things? 

· Choose which collection you think would be the most useful to a museum. Why? 


46






CITY GALLERY 

Look by the displays which are labelled: 

Maori Foundations & The Price of Auckland 

Historical evidence. There are many different types of evidence from the past. 

Look carefully in this area and see if you can find…. 

· Documented evidence. What does it show? 

· What Maori and Pakeha looked like. What types of evidence did you notice? 

· What the Auckland area looked like and the housing styles. 

· Maori technology mixed with new materials. What did you find? 

Maori Trade 

Find the newspaper report from the Provincial Gazette (Item 3) that shows Maori people came 

to Auckland to trade. 

· Name some things they traded in Auckland. 

What to Bring (right hand side) 

· Try the matching activity by this heading. Hard isn't it? But….the answers are on the left hand side. 

Documentary evidence of lists for new immigrants survive. 

· Look at Suggested Luggage for the Early Colonial 

· Read 'for the husband ' and compare the items with 'Outfit for the gentleman' 

or read 'for the wife' and compare the items with 'Outfit for the lady' 

Why would there be such a difference? 

gallery activity sheet





Ligar Canal 

Look at the photograph of Auckland's Queen 

Street and then read the information on the right 

hand label. 

There is an actual bit of the canal that was dug 

up under Queen Street below the photograph. 

· What types of things were discovered in the 

dirt? 

Walk through the rest of this exhibition 

Queen Street Gaol (the door with the 4) 


Look through the windows at what was dug up during the 1987 

archaeological dig in Queen St. 

· Why did the male prisoners have to break stone? 

· What kind of boots did they wear? 

· What did the food evidence show? 

Either: 

Make notes on the different ways evidence of 

the past has survived. E.g look in the Farmers 

Store display or go to the small theatre to find 

examples 

Or: 

Go to the Peoples Wall in the centre of the 

gallery. Look at the types of information 

which has been included in each new immigrant's 

stories. 

· Plan a new display for on this wall. If it was your family represented on this wall what would 

you include in the information? What photos would be suitable? What special objects would show 

interesting things about your family history? What title would you give it? 


48


You may find these in the school or local library. 

49 Bibliography 



You are also welcome to browse through our Museum Library which is on the top floor and accessed 

from the World War 2, Scars on the Heart Gallery and is open weekdays from 1.00 to 5.00 pm. 

Aston, Mick. Taylor, Tim. The Atlas of Archaeology. Dorling Kindersley, 1998 

These are from the B.B.C's Time Team. This book describes the various digs which the archaeologists 

on this television programme organised and the discoveries they made. 

Fagan, Brian, M. Time Detectives. Simon & Schuster, 1995 

Haslam, Andrew. Parsons, Alexandra. Make it Work! Ancient Egypt. Two-Can Publishing Ltd, 1995 

Hepper, Nigel, F. Pharaoh's flowers. HMSO Publications Centre, 1990 

Main, William. Auckland through a Victorian Lens. Millwood Press, 1977 

bibliography 

Martin, (Mary Ann) Lady. (1817-1884) Our Maoris. E & JB Young, London & New York, 1884 

Moloney, Norah. The Young Oxford Book of Archaeology. Oxford University Press, 1995 

Powell, A.W.B. The Centennial History of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Unity press Ltd, 1967 

Trotter, Michael. McCulloch, Beverley. Unearthing New Zealand (revised edition renamed Digging up the 

Past). Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 1997

BOOKING INFORMATION: 

All school visits to the Museum must be booked. 

We advise booking 3 months in advance. 

Contact the Museum School Bookings Officer at: 

Private Bag 92018 Auckland 

Phone: (09) 306 7040 

Fax: (09) 306 7075 

Introductions and Hands-on Sessions (facilitated 

by Education Staff) are available. Please ask the 

School Bookings Officer for more information. 




50

AUCKLAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM 

The Domain Auckland 

Private Bag 92018 Auckland New Zealand 


Te Papa Whakahiku

sharing the past - Auckland Museum

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