Limestone gives shelter

Press, 24 March 1988, Page 17

Limestone gives shelter

Part two in j a three-plart series

Limestone has been used by man for at. least a thousand years in N.ew Zealand, and!for a variety of purposes. Undoubtedly its very first |use, in a wholly unmodified form, was as shelter for early Polynesian hunters, ancestors of the Maori people of today. • i . • i Id. : Limestone j outcrops ; often weather to I form natural overhangs, some of considerable size. (These ; should not be confused with! true caves, particularly those underground, which were virtually never used by the Maori people.) Within the Canterbury ] region, limestone overhangs are most likely to be found in Weka Pass, and in Ithe Castle Hill-Broken River area. They are widespread in South Canterbury. L 1.. At the time of the arrival, of the first humans in New Zealand, these areas were covered jxyith forest, which contained abundant supplied of food in the form, of birds — including moas -j-, rind the Polynesian rat, kiore. ] During hunting expeditions, the limestone overhangs; | provided ready-made overnight shelter. Sometimes these shelters were used only once; others were used repeatedly: 'some would have given refuge to only one or two people, and others would have supplied comfortable accommodation for a large party. Besides giving readily | available shelter,; many limestone overhangs also possessed smooth, light-coloured walls and roofs on which the early Maoris were able to exercise their artistic

talents. On these surfaces they drew a;variety of figures, both human and animal, as 1 well as creature forms and ; abstract’designs. I ; Their pigments were charcqal from their cooking fires,and red ochre, although Isometirhes they used another piece, of] rock! ito scratch the grey limestone surface, thus producing i chalky white marks to add to their range of colours, i Only infrequently ; in the Canterbury region did ' they actually carve, designs into the limestone. ! • ! But besides sheltering under, and drawing upon the surface |of limestone overhangs, the Maori people also used this versatile rock for other j purposes. The most important was as a source of flint;from which they manufactured; flaked ; stone tools ! — knives and drill points. | Flint, which is one of the silica rocks, is found; in bands; .'or nodules in limestone. It is venr

common in the limestones of Marlborough and was used by tlie Maori people throughout the whole] 800 or] so years] of the prehistoric period. | ; . I The! limestone in which] the flint was found was also used experimentally in some places' |by .. the earliest ] Poly- ■ nesiaris in the Canterbury region. . i A few! small! adze'-heads manu- : factored] from such limestone -have been found, b(it the experiment do 2S not] seem to hae been al great success and was discontinued; as I better stone varieties for! this purpose were located. I Onej very interesting use of ; limestond by the Maori people takes us fight into the European pbriod. In, 1899, la harved monument to the Nga.i Tahu was | erected on thei earthworks of the Kaiapphja ; Pa at Wpodend, north of Christchurch. Although the style is that developed I for wood Icarving, it is executed in limestc ne (designed

by Hurst Seager with the work carried lout by Maori carvers). This was a development arising from ’the ■ influence of Europeans, and access to their technology, although occasionally small ] limestone pebbles with incised designs upon them have been jforind, which date back to prehistoric times. | . !■ ; The elarliest European explorand settlers in New Zealand alsp found a fairly immediate use for] limestone. They, too, used the natural ’rock overhangs fop slielfer on their first journeys inland. ?ome] of their trips were recorded by’their Maori guides, who 'added i! to the prehistoric drawings on ’shelter walls depictions | of missionaries, sailing ships, and horses. , With ‘the advent of farming, these limestone overhangs found further use as shelters for’ both man ] arid beast; some of the larger ones were even used early thi!s century; to house traction engines and their ;fuel supply Ibf wood or coal. Many farmers in limestone areas continue to use them to thisjday, as natural hay barns; or toi give protection ]to stdck]—l particularly during the lambing'season. j ; But trie European use of limestone! to provide shelter did not stop I with the' use of natural formations. Although it] is. the Oamaru Stone, of North Otago, which is best known as a building stone, Canterbury limestone whs used quite a lot last century, especially for farm dwellings and outbuildings.: Along with cob, I i it. was Jone of the few readily available building materials jin the relatively! treeless Canterbury region. L • ’ I■ln ; tie earliest European period, imestone building blocks were] shaped by hand, using picks and adzes. The distinctive

markings on; adze-cut blocks are still] discernible on many early buildings today. Later, blocks were j sawn first into large pieces from the. quarry face;— and then into smaller sections; One o'f the skills] was to position the blocks ’ correctly during building ’ construction, retaining the original top and bottom orientation of the sediment, thus maintaining the optimum weatherproof proper-

ties of the material. I There are some lovely j old limestone houses around Canterbury J- cool in summer, warm in winter -H the thick walls providing natural insulation. Many of our | stone buildings around Christchurch, most of neo-Gothic design such as. trie Arts Centre and the] Canterbury Museum, are faced] with I limestone. ■ Unhappily, many of the farm

dwellings and buildings are no longer'used anl have fallen; into disrepair, while the limestone used in the city suffers'from the weathering eff ;cts of a polluted j city atmosphere.’ Nevertheless, limestone reir airis one; of the .

most attractive and versatile of building jmaterials. • . I J Europeans iused and still use limestone for ja I variety of other purposes which will be looked at by the concluding article in this series. : i d || I

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BEVERLEY McCULLOCH