title: Maori internal and international migration at the turn of the century: An Australasian perspective

authors: Bedford, Richard

abstract: At the beginning of the twenty-first century there were two major national clusters of Maori: New Zealand, the ancestral home for Maori, and Australia, home to a much smaller Maori population from the early years of the nineteenth century. In the 2001 censuses of New Zealand and Australia, the usually resident Maori populations were, respectively, 526,281 (ethnic group classification) and 72,956 (ancestry classification). In this paper we examine four dimensions of Maori population movement between 1996 and 2001 using the census data from New Zealand and Australia: 1) internal migration between rural and urban areas in New Zealand; 2) internal migration between rural and urban areas in Australia; 3) migration into New Zealand of Maori resident overseas in 1996; 4) migration into Australia of Maori resident overseas in 1996. There has never been a comprehensive assessment of Maori migration in an Australasian context before, but in the light of developments in population exchanges between New Zealand and Australia this sort of analysis is critical if one wishes to understand contemporary Maori population dynamics.

text: Maori internal and international migration at the turn of the century: An Australasian perspective At the beginning of the twenty-first century there were two major national clusters of Maori: New Zealand, the ancestral home for Maori, and Australia, home to a much smaller Maori population from the early years of the nineteenth century. In the 2001 censuses of New Zealand and Australia, the usually resident Maori populations were, respectively, 526,281 (ethnic group classification) and 72,956 (ancestry classification). In this paper we examine four dimensions of Maori population movement between 1996 and 2001 using the census data from New Zealand and Australia: 1) internal migration between rural and urban areas in New Zealand; 2) internal migration between rural and urban areas in Australia; 3) migration into New Zealand of Maori resident overseas in 1996; 4) migration into Australia of Maori resident overseas in 1996. There has never been a comprehensive assessment of Maori migration in an Australasian context before, but in the light of developments in population exchanges between New Zealand and Australia this sort of analysis is critical if one wishes to understand contemporary Maori population dynamics.

year: 2004

title: Significance of an early date from an adzed tree stump in Northland

authors: Higham, Thomas F.G.

abstract: Ogle, Jones, Sutton and Wallace (1998) have recently investigated the radiocarbon dating of a tree stump ('Ogle's stump’) which had evidence of adze marks, near the site of Taumatawhana pa, Houhora, Northland. The conventional radiocarbon age of 938 ± 31 BP was obtained at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd (formerly INS) laboratory in 1971. Ogle et al.(1998) considered the 'inbuilt age' of the wood (see McFadgen, 1982) and assessed its contribution to the radiocarbon determination. In this brief paper we re-evaluate that methodology and question the conclusion of Ogle et al. (1998) that the date is reliable. We are particularly concerned with the comparison of the date with an associated radiocarbon result obtained by Elliot et al. (1995) from a nearby site at Lake Taumatawhana, which we think is misleading.

text: Significance of an early date from an adzed tree stump in Northland Ogle, Jones, Sutton and Wallace (1998) have recently investigated the radiocarbon dating of a tree stump ('Ogle's stump’) which had evidence of adze marks, near the site of Taumatawhana pa, Houhora, Northland. The conventional radiocarbon age of 938 ± 31 BP was obtained at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd (formerly INS) laboratory in 1971. Ogle et al.(1998) considered the 'inbuilt age' of the wood (see McFadgen, 1982) and assessed its contribution to the radiocarbon determination. In this brief paper we re-evaluate that methodology and question the conclusion of Ogle et al. (1998) that the date is reliable. We are particularly concerned with the comparison of the date with an associated radiocarbon result obtained by Elliot et al. (1995) from a nearby site at Lake Taumatawhana, which we think is misleading.

year: 1998

title: Bayesian tools for tephrochronology

authors: Buck, Caitlin E.

subjects: radiocarbon dating

abstract: It is suggested that Bayesian statistical methods for radiocarbon data interpretation, already widely used in archaeology, also have potential to improve the dating of tephra layers and hence enhance their use for tephrochronology. By re-analysing data from a recently published paper in which the authors sought to identify the calendar date of the eruption of fourteenth-century AD Kaharoa Tephra, a key marker in New Zealand prehistory, it is shown that Bayesian methods can be used to draw together a coherent collection of radiocarbon data, undertake formal outlier detection, and include prior information. Regardless of the calibration curve adopted, the distribution of likely dates for the Kaharoa eruption is multimodal. By including prior information from wiggle-matched dendrochronology, the uncertainty on the estimate of the calendar date is reduced from a range of about 100 years to about 25 years (i.e., 648-623 cal. BP, with modes at 638 and 632 cal. BP). Using sensitivity analysis, however, it is shown that such estimates are affected by the quality and nature of the prior information available. As a result, we urge tephrochronologists to seek fastidiously both high-quality radiocarbon data and reliable stratigraphic sequences that might inform future geochronological model building.

text: Bayesian tools for tephrochronology It is suggested that Bayesian statistical methods for radiocarbon data interpretation, already widely used in archaeology, also have potential to improve the dating of tephra layers and hence enhance their use for tephrochronology. By re-analysing data from a recently published paper in which the authors sought to identify the calendar date of the eruption of fourteenth-century AD Kaharoa Tephra, a key marker in New Zealand prehistory, it is shown that Bayesian methods can be used to draw together a coherent collection of radiocarbon data, undertake formal outlier detection, and include prior information. Regardless of the calibration curve adopted, the distribution of likely dates for the Kaharoa eruption is multimodal. By including prior information from wiggle-matched dendrochronology, the uncertainty on the estimate of the calendar date is reduced from a range of about 100 years to about 25 years (i.e., 648-623 cal. BP, with modes at 638 and 632 cal. BP). Using sensitivity analysis, however, it is shown that such estimates are affected by the quality and nature of the prior information available. As a result, we urge tephrochronologists to seek fastidiously both high-quality radiocarbon data and reliable stratigraphic sequences that might inform future geochronological model building.

year: 2003