A 600-year-old stone adze found during earthworks for the Tauranga Eastern Link Highway project is taking pride of place in an archaeological display at the site office in Papamoa.
The adze and other artifacts found during the construction process are part of a new display at the TEL Information centre on Tara Road.
The adze originates in Nelson and is estimated to be 600 years old. Midden shells, hangi stones, china and an old wine bottle are also on display in a glass cabinet.
Bay of Plenty state highways manager Brett Gliddon says Tauranga Eastern Link crosses through areas rich in cultural history and early land occupation so finding remnants of history is always exciting.
'To date the adze or ‘Toki Tarai' has been the most significant find it was found by a worker, who was clearing a site near Bruce Road”.
Brett says the project team and tangata whenua have been working in partnership and have protocols in place if koiwi (human bones), or taonga (object that relates to Maori culture, history or society) are found.
'We understand the importance of the items we find and value our relationship with tangata whenua who are helping us manage the process.”
The TEL Information Centre is open to the public Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm making it an ideal school holiday activity.
There are also new displays showing the latest construction progress images which are updated every month.
The Tauranga Eastern Link is the biggest roading construction project ever undertaken in the Bay of Plenty.
The TEL will run from Te Maunga near Baypark Stadium to the existing junction of State Highways 2 and State Highway 33 - the intersection of the Rotorua and Whakatane highways, near Paengaroa.
It will be made up of 17km of new road, which cannot be seen from the current highway, and 6km of the existing state highway will be upgraded. The TEL is expected to be completed in 2016.
Visit the TEL website to find out more about the progress made on this project at www.nzta.govt.nz/tel.
The TEL is identified one of seven roads of national significance, identified by the government as linked to New Zealand's prosperity.
The RoNS programme represents one of New Zealand's biggest ever infrastructure investments and is a key part of the Government's National Infrastructure Plan and Government's Policy Statement for transport.
The seven RoNS projects are based around New Zealand's five largest population centres. The focus is on moving people and freight between and within these centres more safely and efficiently.
7 comments
INLAND PORT
Posted on 03-07-2012 10:52 | By PLONKER
Is more important than ever before, but that will only work is there is an "Auto-baun" betwwen Tauranga and the Waikato, the ETL is actually heading in the wrong direction
I am confused
Posted on 03-07-2012 11:39 | By Hector
which is not a new thing, but Nelson was not in New Zealand 600 years ago, and I did not think much else was, so how did it get from the Top of the South Island here???
Who says what's what here ?
Posted on 03-07-2012 12:08 | By Hebegeebies
Question how old was the china and glass bottle found not 600years I hope otherwise maori will be looking a bit sick with their claims I suspect.What if any bones or artifacts found are not maori who gets them to check -not maori I trust !!
Adze finding
Posted on 03-07-2012 12:57 | By Linaire
How has it been determined that the adze is 600 years old, and from Nelson? Or is this just some information that has been plucked from thin air? It would be great to have this information in the above article.
WHAT THE HECTOR?
Posted on 03-07-2012 15:48 | By YOGI
They do not know, just sounds like a wonderful yarn to spin out for self verification purposes of IWI being on te taxpayer payrol again.
LINAIRE
Posted on 03-07-2012 15:50 | By YOGI
Normally age is determined by the the amount of wrinkles and the lack of speed/momentum. In this case I believe it is somewhat unusal, it is a case of how much BS it was buried in.
Phew, not bones
Posted on 03-07-2012 16:36 | By Hater McHater
I bet the contractors are glad its not bones. It's an expensive issue having to stop work for a few days to investigate the site, bless it, and pay a koha to the local tribe to do so. Better to just crush them under a heavy roller and pretend they never existed....
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