1. First Footsteps in a New World City: The Dunedin Causeway and Early Settlers' Adaptation to Their New Home.
- Author
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Petchey, Peter
- Subjects
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CAUSEWAYS , *PHYSIOLOGICAL adaptation , *URBAN archaeology , *LANDSCAPES , *COLONISTS , *COLONIZATION , *MAORI (New Zealand people) , *ANTIQUITIES - Abstract
The Dunedin Causeway was a timber corduroy path found in central Dunedin, New Zealand, during an archaeological investigation ahead of a mall development in 2008. The path was probably built by the first Scottish settlers to arrive in 1848, using timber cleared from the neighboring hills. Analysis of the timbers indicates that they were almost all waste species and, therefore, ideal for use in a temporary path. Using a landscape-learning framework, this article suggests that the first settlers very quickly learned about certain aspects of their new home, and this knowledge was probably acquired from publications and assistance from the few existing residents, both European and Maori (the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand). The causeway represents the early settlers' physical efforts, their growing awareness of the landscape, the establishment of the city as an agent of colonization, and the acquisition of knowledge from local Maori, who were, perversely, being displaced by the same processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
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