Moa-hunter cave
The cave below Moncks Spur from which detectives recovered stolen property was first used as a shelter by moa-hunters several hundred years ago, the secretary of the Canterbury Museum Archaeological Society (Mr B. N. Nprris) said yesterday. The cave was located by workmen in 1899, having been sealed several hundred years before, said Mr Norris. The floor was so dry that even human hair had been preserved. A unique amulet of a wooden dog, the only outrigger float recovered in New Zealand, adzes, fishing equipment, pendants, and canoe paddles were found in the cave, he said. The bones of an extinct swan and moas were also discovered.
“Potentially the cave was the most archaeologically valuable in New Zealand when it was found," said Mr Norris. “Unfortunately it was plundered by amateurs before scientists were able to see it”
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Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32702, 3 September 1971, Page 16
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140Moa-hunter cave Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32702, 3 September 1971, Page 16
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