Maori rock drawings threatened

Press, 25 February 1985, Page 2

Maori rock drawings threatened

Timaru reporter Some of New Zealand’s finest fifteenth century Maori rock art is being obliterated by itchy stock and mindless vandals. Many important drawings have disappeared in South Canterbury, an area which boasts by far the largest concentration of rock art in the country. Several other sites in the region are threatened by stock, vandals and natural deterioration. Historians and Government officials have joined forces to fence off and preserve surviving drawings. Mrs Phillip Graham, of the Historic Places Trust, describes the fencing programme as “a race against time." She has teamed with staff of the Lands and Survey Department to record and photograph rock art sites throughout the region. Many drawings recorded in a 1981 survey have disappeared. Some previously unrecorded sites have also been discovered. Drawings of linked figures on a big boulder at Waihao Forks, near Waimate, were wiped out by sheep rub during a recent drought. Stock have also been responsible for the disappearance of drawings at Raincliff, Albury, Hazelburn, and Limestone Valley. Impressive drawings on a cliff site near the Opihi River have been ruined by people who have written names in red paint. Other drawings near Hanging Rock have also been obliterated by vandals. Drawings at most of the well known sites have been retouched with crayon, Indian ink, chalk, and even housepaint. Mr Roger Gould, of the Lands and Survey Department at Timaru, says several drawings have been unwittingly damaged by people who did not realise the value of the art. Other drawings have fallen victim to more modern vandals with spray cans. Several drawings have been damaged by natural weathering, or moisture resulting from changes in the climate. Dampness

thought to have been caused by the planting of willow trees is threatening two drawings on large boulders at Raincliff. Moss has ruined drawings in a cave near the Opihi River, and salt from sea breezes is thought to have accelerated the flaking of large red figures drawn at Castlerock. Little can be done to halt deterioration by most natural causes, although in cases where water seepage is threatening rock art — such as at Dog Rock, near Cave — attempts will be made to divert moisture from the drawings. Some of the region’s most important rock drawings have been fenced in the last few years. Farm weld mesh and pipe uprights are used in the fences, which have to be contoured to the landscape and, in some cases, still provide stock shelter away from the drawings. Mrs Graham said it was a “great coup” to have the famous Opihi taniwha fenced “after years of agitation.” (Taniwha was a mythical man-eating monster believed by the Maoris to dwell in riverside pools and caves. The taniwha depicted on the ceiling of a cave near the Opihi River has appeared on postage stamps and souvenirs, and has been used on pottery and wall hangings.) Members of Temuka’s Maori community want to incorporate designs from the drawings into their weaving patterns. Mrs Graham rates South Canterbury’s rock art as the most important historical item New Zealand has to show overseas visitors. She would like to see some of the sites promoted overseas as areas of special archaelogical interest. She added that visits to the sites must be closely controlled. “I would not like to see a commercial venture traipsing round from site to site purely as a money-making , concern,” she said. The Historic Places Trust plans to publish a brochure detailing sites of interest, and outlining restrictions to public access.