The southernmost and (except for Chatham Islands) the only temperate land-mass to be settled by Polynesians (Maoris). The sequence, beginning c900 ad, is predominantly horticultural in the North Island, grading to hunting and gathering in the colder South Island. Language, economy and technology are fully Polynesian with certain adaptations to a non-tropical environment. There are two archaeological phases: Archaic, ¿900-1300, and Classic, CÎ300-1800. The Classic is associated with many earthwork fortifications, a rich woodcarving tradition, and development of the chiefly society observed by Captain Cook in 1769. See Duff, Lake Hauroko, moas, pa, Palliser Bay,
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied