Olsson Swamp Excavation

Young and old alike mucked in during the summer of 1960 at the Olsson’s swamp in Waitara. The archaeological excavation, led by charismatic Canterbury Museum director Roger Duff, was planned after a number of high-profile discoveries of Māori carvings in wetlands during the 1950s. Duff hoped a systematic investigation of the area would find more taonga and committed to winning the support of iwi for the search, an approach which was a first for New Zealand archaeology.

The excavation covered approximately 950 square metres on the Olsson’s farm on Richmond Street. It took about three weeks and involved large numbers of volunteers who pitched in and helped with the dirty work. Public interest was high and the dig had extensive local newspaper coverage, but no carvings were found. While a number of more utilitarian items were discovered the real success of the dig was to boost the public profile of New Zealand archaeology and raise the bar for Māori consultation and involvement in future excavations.

These three hardworking youngsters who helped with the excavation are still to be identified. If you know who they are please contact Puke Ariki.