Walter Mantell's sketch shows the digging party carrying away loads of moa bones from Awamoa in North Otago on 29 December 1852. Mantell conducted a number of New Zealand's earliest archaeological digs, removing hundreds of moa bones and accompanying artefacts. The information gained was minimal, as little attempt was made to record the details of material before it was removed. Mantell applied the name Awamoa (which means moa river) to a creek that was originally called Awakokomaka.
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Alexander Turnbull Library
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C-103-051-3-lower
Pen and ink drawing by Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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