The Origins Of Muttonbirding In New Zealand

Abstract

Evidence of systematic muttonbirding in the pre-European era is scarce and enigmatic. This paper contributes new infonnation and propositions to three older questions about the origins of muttonbirding in mainland New Zealand: when did systematic muttonbirding begin, why is it distributed archaeologically towards the south, and when did the histori cal indus try begin in Foveaux Strait and Rakiura? Radiocarbon detenninations are reported on Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) bone samples from two archaeological deposits. They indicate that muttonbirding began in the colonisation era, 600-800 BP, in Foveaux Strait. The arrival with Polynesian settlement of the Pacific rat , Rattus exulans, may have restructured the density distribution of petrel colonies to favour southern muttonbirding. The antecedents of the hi storical industry, despite some recent archaeological research in Rakiura, remain obscure and need to be approached through a systematic programme of research.

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