Ngā Rauropi Whakaoranga

"The remains of a prehistoric Māori back pack were found at Flock Hill, inland Canterbury. The pack comprised a two-piece bag woven from strips of New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) fitted around a circular wooden frame and carried with the aid of two shoulder straps. It contained several artifacts of flax, bone and shell." (authors abstract).

The wooden hoop was made of Phyllocladus sp. [toatoa or celery pine]. The uprights and crosspiece were of beech. Some of the plant material in the pack could not be identified. One of the pieces was a length of the inner bark of the lace-bark tree.

Subsequent radio-carbon dating (reported in The Press, 26/11//87) indicated that the pack was approximately 530 years old.