Labrids are one of several fish families which
are the subject of continuing research at the Archaeozoology Laboratory of the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Fish from more than 20 different families were caught by the Maori people of Mana Island. The proportions of the different kinds of fish in the archaeological sample are given in the table below. In general, the results reflect the fish that are still found in the immediate environment today, but there are some interesting differences.
The fish catch is dominated by labrids. This family includes spotties, banded parrotfish and scarlet parrotfish, which are common around Mana and Kapiti Islands today (Roberts 1996). It is very difficult to distinguish the different species from their bones. The Mana Island assemblage includes some unusually large labrids which have not yet been identified to species; however, they are almost certainly parrotfish rather than spotties.
Labrids are one of several fish families which
are the subject of continuing research at the Archaeozoology Laboratory of the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Snapper were also an important component of the
catch but there was a decline in their relative abundance through time.
Historical evidence suggests a decline in snapper in the region in the last 30
years; it appears that this may be part of a much longer trend.
Other fish in the catch which are abundant around Mana today are blue cod and greenbone; leatherjackets, moki and conger eels are also present (Nairn et al. n.d. ). Various surveys have noted that kahawai, barracouta and sharks and rays move through the inshore area.
Some fish which have been recently reported as abundant around Kapiti appear rarely, if at all, in the archaeological record. Red moki have not been identified; tarakahi are not as numerous in the archaeological site as they are in the catch of modern recreational fishermen; marblefish, gurnard and sea perch are of little significance.
There are also some unusual features of the Mana Island assemblage. For example, leatherjackets are not common in archaeological sites, although they are a common inshore species in New Zealand.
The proportions of different fish in the Mana Island site are given below (MNI means the minimum number of individuals represented by the archaeological bones).
Family Name Common Name MNI % Labridae spotty etc. 523 29.02 Sparidae snapper 295 16.37 Mugiloididae blue cod 146 8.10 Odacidae greenbone 134 7.44 Balistidae leatherjacket 125 6.94 Latrididae blue moki 106 5.88 Arripidae kahawai 82 4.55 Gempylidae barracouta 77 4.27 Cheilodactylidae tarakihi 57 3.16 Chondrichthyes sharks, skates, rays 56 3.11 Congridae conger eel 52 2.89 Carangidae trevally 29 1.61 Scorpaenidae scarpee, sea perch etc. 24 1.33 Aplodactylidae marble fish 22 1.22 Percichthyidae groper 20 1.11 Myliobatidae eagle ray 11 0.61 Osteichthyes unknown species 8 0.44 Squalidae dogfish 7 0.39 Ophidiidae ling 6 0.33 Moridae red cod 6 0.33 Triglidae gurnard 4 0.22 Myliobatiformes skates and rays 4 0.22 Anguillidae freshwater eels 2 0.11 Scombridae blue mackerel 2 0.11 Zeidae John dory 2 0.11 Callorhinchidae elephant fish 2 0.11 Total 1802 100.00
Press here for the abundance curve (a diagammatic version of the table).
The nature of the fish catch at Mana Island, and the results of the excavations in general are discussed in more detail in Horwood 1990, and Horwood, Leach and Davidson 1998.
