Wairau Bar, South Island, New Zealand

Wairau Bar, South Island, New Zealand [Si].
MAORI cemetery in the northern part of South Island investigated by Sir Roger Duff in the early 1940s. Dated to the 11th–12th centuries ad, Wairau Bar has yielded one of the richest artefact assemblages from any ancient site in New Zealand. About 26 burials were found, singly or in groups, many furnished with grave goods that included adzes, necklaces, fish-hooks, and moa eggs. The style of the artefacts suggests links with parts of eastern Polynesia.[Sum.: R. Duff, 1950, Moas and man. Antiquity, 24, 72–83]