were all the more heartening in that they were unexpected. What was hoped for, the discovery of some exquisite piece of the wood carver's art, did not occur—at least at the site of the search. Two significant finds, however, were made by accident by other people in the district, finds that keyed up the Richmond Street diggers and made them all the more eager. The first of these independent discoveries was made by Mr A. E. Gernhoefer, a Waitara Borough Council employee who was working on the site of a new children's playground close to the Waitara River. His find was a carved lintel, smaller than that found by Shaun Ainsworth but nevertheless a most interesting piece of carving. That was on January 26. Then on January 29 Mr J. Kilpatrick who was operating a mechanical ditch digger on a farm at Motunui, a mile or so out of Waitara, threw out of the black ooze in which his machine was working a splendid pataka panel. It was a gem of its kind, a deeply-graven slab with writhing, serpentine figures of the kind typical of Taranaki carving. It probably took its place on the right hand side of a storehouse as one faces it and therefore had one side longer than the other to conform with the sloping roof beam. Its longest side was 4ft. 2in., its shortest 2ft. 9 ½in. It was about 14in. wide and in parts 4½in. thick. The steel jaws of the ditch-digger's grab did only superficial damage. The search ended on February 17. The material gains have already been mentioned but the less tangible ones are probably more important. These include: 1. The impressive and unprecedented co-operation of both races in a project of this nature with all the value that such a precedent has. 2. The intense interest the project has aroused in Taranaki from which the museum has already benefited by way of numerous gifts and from which it must continue to benefit. 3. The training of a large group of young people in the fundamentals of archaeological work and the arousing of their interest in an educational, absorbing and healthful activity. It might be noted that so valuable was the experience counted by educational authorities that selected pupils of the Waitara High School worked for nearly two weeks of normal school time in the area. And what of the future? Well, the dig will continue as weather permits. A core of adults will assist about 30 young people who have formed themselves into an archaeological club. Both older and younger enthusiasts include members of both races. They will be directed by the curator of the Taranaki Museum, Mr Rigby Allan, and there are high hopes that more light will be thrown upon the life of the old-time Maori through their endeavours. That in the long run must be the purpose of all such excavation. It is not so much the article found but the circumstances in which it is found that is important for only by examining one in the light of the other can worthwhile conclusions be reached, conclusions which widen our knowledge of other days and deepen our respect for those who have gone before. Without skilled direction, systematic planning, careful recording and thoughtful subsequent analysis, searches such as the Waitara one can easily become mere trophy hunting and curio collecting. When curiosity or cupidity become the aims, the works of our ancestors might well be left to lie concealed for all time.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE MAORI PEOPLE “Archaeologists are interested in the Maori race here and now; they have love and respect for the Maori here and now and it is a gross untruth to think that their study is only of the dead Maori.” This was said by the curator of the Canterbury Museum, Dr Roger Duff, in an address he gave at Hawera during the time he was directing on behalf of the Taranaki Museum a search at Waitara for buried Maori artifacts. Dr Duff, who certainly practised what he preached while he was at Waitara, went on to give sound advice to all who were interested in archaeology in New Zealand. Even when not working over Maori land, he said, the archaeologist was seeking lost Maori property. Thus, however tempting a site might be, it was essential not to excavate against the wish of the present Maori people. This had been done at Waitara and what was more, a religious ceremony had been conducted also which helped greatly to allay any understandable misgivings some of the people might have had regarding the project. The pakeha had not produced any art in New Zealand comparable with that of the Maori stone age, he said, and the Maoris themselves had lost much of the power and beauty of their art since the coming of the white man. The ancient craftsmen of the area in which he was searching at present had drawn inspiration from Mount Taranaki and from the legends of his ancestors but later craftsmen had not been capable of producing the masterpieces of former times.