An ancient papakāinga has been unearthed at a roundabout construction in Papamoa. Archaeologists say the papakāinga may have dated from 1600-1800.
Historic Papamoa Pā is situated up on the ridge with roadworks taking place below.
Ngā Pōtiki kaumātua Des Kahotea says, "Papamoa is governed by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council. Development here is rapid with houses and roads being built. This work is destroying ancestral areas."
During early stages of the roundabout construction, over 300 archaeological features were unearthed.
NZTA Senior Project Manager Wayne Troughton told Te Kāea, "When we first stripped to top soil off we found some whare with the holes where the posts go. We also found kūmara pits with hāngī stones and fire pits. What was unique about the find was that the whare were all lined up, so there was about four of them I believe and that indicated that they'd all lived here at the same time and it was an organised site."
A finding the Ngā Pōtiki chairman says is very common in the increasingly urbanised area.
Ngā Pōtiki a Tamapahore chairman Colin Reeder says, "It's a double edged sword. Our people get the benefits of 20th century urbanization but it also comes at a cost. The cost, of course, is that a lot of our heritage is destroyed or damaged so the role of our resource management team is to try and mitigate that as much as we can."
The remains are now with the New Zealand Heritage Society where they will be examined.