<< Our Photo Pages >> Takiroa Rock Art Site - Cave or Rock Shelter in New Zealand
Submitted by DrewParsons on Saturday, 14 April 2012 Page Views: 6947
Natural PlacesSite Name: Takiroa Rock Art SiteCountry: New Zealand
NOTE: This site is 177.045 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Oamaru Nearest Village: Duntroon
Latitude: 44.84298S Longitude: 170.645560E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
Klingon visited - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
DrewParsons have visited here
Takiroa Rock Art Site is a rock shelter with Māori rock art drawn using ochre and bird fat. It is the most well known of the various South Island Māori rock art sites and forms part of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust scheduled "Takiroa Historic Area" (register number 5653). The shelter dates to pre 1600 when it was a campsite for Māori people travelling from the coast inland towards the Southern Alps along the Waitaki Valley. Archaeological finds in the immediate vicinity of the shelter give this date and back up oral stories of early travellers including the legendary Tamatea-Pokai-Whenua, a great explorer who lit fires as he walked the land. Legend holds that the ash from one of those fires created the white outcrop at Takiroa. The scenes depicted vary from the oldest art which used traditional designs including taniwha (large water spirit creatures of Māori tradition), human figures, and symbols related to those found in art in wider Polynesia, through to early 19th century depictions of European items such as horses and ships.
The limestone rock was very suitable for painting but erosion and human interference has affected the site. Fortunately the art work was sketch recorded in 1852 and photographed in 1896 but pieces were later removed by a visiting American scholar with some destroyed in the process, although others are now in museums around the South Island.
The site is located just west of Duntroon village on highway 83 in the Waitaki Valley between Oamaru on the coast and Omarama towards the Southern Alps. There is a second set of similar rock shelters and art work to the immediate east of Duntroon village at Maerewhenua.
References: http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=7769
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