The bones were welcomed to Palmerston North with a karakia and a waiata.
Photo: RNZ/ Dom Thomas
At a pre-dawn ceremony today, those bones were uplifted from that site, and moved to Te Manawa, the Palmerston North museum.
They were carried inside wrapped up in boxes, then laid out on the floor - with iwi members, kaitiaki representatives, and Waka Kotahi Transport Agency staff sitting nearby - the bones were welcomed with a karakia and waiata.
When the ceremony was finished, the bones were then carried out, to the rear of the museum, into a storage room.
Many of the bones were too fragile and sensitive to be moved out of their boxes and remained wrapped up but three bones - two ends of a tibia and a femur - were laid out.
Rare moa bones unearthed during Manawatū highway project Newshub 3 hrs ago
Workers on a Manawatū highway project have made a rare and historic find.
Moa bones were unearthed three weeks ago and are now being investigated at a Palmerston North Museum.
The construction workers digging through the Ruahine Range were paving the way for a new highway to replace the Manawatū Gorge - but instead, they unearthed ancient bones.
Lonnie Dalzell from Waka Kotahi says the experience was meaningful. It was interesting to see how the different workers reacted. It was quite a spiritual thing for some people, others were nervous because they thought it might have been koiwi [human remains] as well.
One of the larger bones recovered. “I already knew how significant it was. I didn t really need anybody to tell me. “I had already heard and felt it. The maunga only reveals itself to its own.” Having previously worked as a butcher, when Skipper saw the bones in the bucket of the digger he knew immediately they weren’t from farm animals. The bones were taken from the site to be handed over to the Te Manawa museum in Palmerston North in a pōwhiri on Wednesday morning by iwi, Rangitāne o Manawatū. The bones will undergo testing while at the museum to determine how old they are and where they came from.
Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
Ancient moa bones unearthed last month during excavation work on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway project have today been uplifted by iwi and relocated to Te Manawa in Palmerston North, following archaeological investigations at the site.
A private ceremony to uplift the bones was held this morning before dawn, led by kaitiaki and kaumatua, and attended by Waka Kotahi Owner Interface Manager Lonnie Dalzell, project Alliance leadership, and project site archaeologist Patrick Harsveldt.
“We are very grateful to our kaitiaki and iwi partners for their guidance and leadership since the discovery of these taonga and throughout the archaeological investigations,” Mr Dalzell says.
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