Tauroa Point dune middens heritage assessment
- Author
- Carpenter, J.
- Year
- 2012
- Publisher / Organisation
- Department of Conservation
- Pages
- 18
- Summary
- The Tauroa Point dune middens are located on the western side of the Ahipara Conservation Area, west of Ahipara at the southern end of 90 Mile Beach/Oneroa. The Conservation Area is 3484ha in size and the midden are scattered around the foredunes between the coast and the higher ground which rises to the Ahipara Plateau. The reserve is accessible either side of low tide by 4WD vehicle across the 19 ha Tauroa Point Conservation Area (which also contains a number of midden). That Conservation Area consists of a narrow strip of land between the sea and the foredunes around the rocky wave platform of Shipwreck Bay and the beachfront to the southwest. The two conservation areas contain more than fifty recorded sites but due to the environment, shifting sands regularly cover and/or erode and destroy previously recorded sites and uncover new ones. Midden are also affected by ongoing erosion from streams and storm events, as well as stock trampling and 4WD vehicles. In addition to the midden there are several pa and terrace sites located on the two Conservation Areas, and several patches of taro and historic house sites. A map of the known site locations and the other sites in the Conservation Area has been produced by digitising marked up NZMS 260 metric topographic maps prepared by DOC Historic staff for sites on the DOC estate, based on the original site records. The locations shown here are more accurate than those in ArchSite (which require updating). They have been overlaid in a Geographic Information System along with recent aerial imagery and other geographic data; the location of features is approximate only but provides a picture of the archaeological features in the context of the surrounding landscape (Figure 1-3).