Bones discovered during construction work on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway have been sampled for have been aged to be at least 180,000 years old and possibly up to 345-thousand years.
Palaeobiologist Dr Richard Holdaway discussing the moa bone sampling process with Te Ahu a Turanga Kaitiaki Terry Hapi at Te Manawa in Palmerston North. Photo: Supplied / NZTA
The bones have been confirmed as from moa and other large flightless birds.
The bones were found in March 2021 and were stored for safekeeping while a decision was made on their future.
Local iwi, Rangitāne o Manawatū, Rangitāne o Tamaki nui-a-Rua, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua, Te Runanga o Raukawa (Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Ngā Kaitiaki ō Ngāti Kauwhata), agreed for the bones to be sampled, with requirements for appropriate tikanga to be observed and for their immediate return to the maunga after the sampling.
Samples were taken for radiometric dating isotopic and ancient genetic analysis.
It was undertaken over three-days in December by palaeobiologist, Dr Richard Holdaway from Canterbury University.
He identified the bones along with Alan Tennyson from Te Papa Tongarewa.
File image: Moa bones at Te Manawa, the Palmerston North Museum, after being discovered during highway work. Photo: RNZ/ Dom Thomas
The process included photographing and 3D scanning the bones for replication and lodgement of replicas at Te Papa Tongarewa and Te Manawa.
Previously, the sediments around, below and above the bones had been sampled for dating and for possible evidence of the vegetation at the site when the birds died.
Sediment sampling was carried out at the Luminescence Dating Facility at Victoria University of Wellington.
The extreme age of the well-preserved bones makes them one of the most significant discoveries of fauna in this country.
Following the sampling, the bones were returned to Ruahine Maunga in a private ceremony conducted by iwi.