New Zealand’s First People Come Home

The remains of some of the first people to settle in New Zealand are being returned to their home – 700 years after they were first laid to rest in a burial ground at Blenheim’s Wairau Bar.

The 10-kilometre boulder bank at the mouth of the Wairau River is considered the most significant archaeological site in the country and provided the first conclusive evidence that New Zealand was originally colonised from East Polynesia. A small group of Polynesians lived in a settlement at the north end of the bar – a strategically-valuable location, close to ocean, estuary and river. They lived on the bountiful natural resources of the area and, unlike many other early sites in New Zealand, settled for many years – long enough to bury their dead.

ENDS