Editing Māori culture (section)

===Archaic period c. 1300 AD===
{{main|New Zealand archaeology}}
[[File:Early Maori objects from Wairau Bar, Canterbury Museum, 2016-01-27.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Early Māori objects similar to Polynesian forms ([[Wairau Bar]], [[Marlborough Region|Marlborough]]), note the volcanic glass from the North Island (top left)]]
[[File:Maori man wearing kahu kuri, c. 1860–1880 (1).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Traditional formal dress of the Classic/contact period, including a dog-skin cloak ({{lang|mi|kahu kurī}}), and a {{lang|mi|mere}} or {{lang|mi|[[patu]]}} (short edged weapon).]]
Researchers often label the time from about 1280 to about 1450 the Archaic period or "Moa-hunter period" – after the [[moa]], the large flightless bird that formed a large part of the diet of the early Polynesian settlers.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Barber|first=Ian |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_104_1995/Volume_104,_No._4/Constructions_of_change:_A_history_of_early_Maori_culture_sequences,_by_Ian_Barber,_p_357-396/p1|access-date=2018-12-13|year=1995 |title=Constructions of Change: A History of Early Maori Culture Sequences|journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society|volume=104|issue=4|pages=357–396}}</ref> The immigrants brought many edible plants from their home islands in the central Pacific, and of these [[Sweet potato|''kūmara'' (sweet potato)]] would become the most important as the colder climate meant that tropical staple crops needed careful cultivation to survive, and some failed to grow locally. The {{lang | mi |  kūmara}} became associated in several Polynesian
and Maori myth traditions<ref>
For some of the "numerous" different kūmara myths, compare:
{{cite book
 |last1                = Reed 
 |first1               = Alexander Wyclif
 |author-link1         = Alexander Wyclif Reed
 |editor-last1         = Calman
 |editor-first1        = Ross
 |editor-link1         = Ross Calman
 |year                 = 2008
 |orig-date            = 2004
 |chapter              = kūmara
 |title                = Earth, Ocean, Sky: Te Ao Tūroa
 |series               = Traditional Maori Stories, volume 2
 |location             = North Shore (Auckland)
 |publisher            = Penguin
 |pages                 = 41–51
 |isbn                 = 9780143010036
}} 
</ref> with Rongomātāne ([[Rongo|Rongo-mā-Tāne]] or Rongo) a high-ranking {{lang | mi | atua}} ([[List of Māori deities|god]]) in several [[Polynesian narrative|Polynesian]] pantheons as the patron of agriculture/horticulture – and who had particular associations with sweet potatoes.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Wilkinson
 |first1               = Philip
 |author-link1         = Philip Wilkinson (author)
 |last2                = Philip
 |first2               = Neil
 |year                 = 2007
 |title                = Mythology
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=nrjQMY690gsC
 |series               = Eyewitness Companions
 |location             = London
 |publisher            = Dorling Kindersley Limited
 |page                 = 311
 |isbn                 = 9781405318204
 |access-date          = 9 February 2023
 |quote                = [...] Rongo is the Polynesian god of agriculture and cultivated foods, particularly associated with kumara (sweet potatoes). Rongo is his Maori name; in Hawaii he is known as Lono, in the Marquesas as Ono [...].
}} 
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Jordan
 |first1               = Michael
 |date                 = 14 May 2014
 |title                = Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=aqDC5bwx4_wC
 |series               = Library of Religion and Mythology
 |publisher            = Infobase Publishing
 |page                 = 267
 |isbn                 = 9781438109855
 |access-date          = 9 February 2023
 |quote                = Rongomatane God of agriculture. Polynesian (including Maori). He is the father of cultivated food and the special gardener of the kumara or sweet potato which is a vital crop in Polynesia.
}} 
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Weiner
 |first1               = James
 |editor-last1         = Willis
 |editor-first1        = Roy
 |year                 = 1996
 |orig-date            = 1993
 |chapter              = Oceania: Myths of the Maori
 |title                = World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=9IgbAQAAMAAJ
 |location             = Landon
 |publisher            = Duncan Baird Publishers
 |pages                 = 294–295
 |isbn                 = 9781900131056
 |access-date          = 2 February 2023
 |quote                = Rongo, the god of cultivated foods [...] God of cultivated plants [...]
}} 
</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/kumara/page-4|title= Kūmara – Religious aspects|last= Adds|first= Peter|encyclopedia= Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand|access-date= 1 November 2013 | quote = Much of the activity to produce kūmara became ritualised – it was even associated with Rongomātāne (Rongo), a high-ranking atua (god).}}</ref>

These early colonists explored New Zealand to find suitable stones for tool-making. The main stone-source areas included [[Mayor Island]], Taupō and Kerikeri for [[obsidian]] (volcanic glass); prospectors soon found {{lang|mi|[[pounamu]]}} (greenstone or [[jade]]) and {{lang|mi|pakohe}} ([[argillite]]) resources in the South Island in the areas of present-day Reefton and Nelson.<ref name="DNZB Duff" /> Basalt was later also found which is prospected to have a use in construction.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/factsheets/rare-ecosystems/subterranean-or-semi-subterranean/subterranean-basalt-fields|title= Subterranean basalt fields|website= Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research|access-date= 2020-03-26|archive-date= 6 April 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200406153555/http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/factsheets/rare-ecosystems/subterranean-or-semi-subterranean/subterranean-basalt-fields|url-status= dead}}</ref> Stone served in all aspects of Polynesian life: from chopping wood to cutting and slicing food, as anchors for {{lang|mi|waka}} (canoes) and for fishing nets, for retaining the heat in a {{lang|mi|hāngi}}, as drills using chert, and for stone clubs. These practices, well preserved at the [[Wairau Bar]] [[New Zealand archaeology|archeological site]], were typical of East Polynesian culture at the same time.<ref name="DNZB Duff">{{DNZB|last= Davidson|first= Janet|id=5d27|title= Roger Shepherd Duff|access-date= 23 April 2017}}</ref>

Two Polynesian artefacts link early settlers to Polynesia. One, a turret shell only found in the South Pacific islands, most notably in the Society Islands, has been reworked into a small chisel found at Wairau Bar and dated to about 1300.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Davidson|first1= Janet|last2= Findlater|first2= Amy|last3= Fyfe|first3= Roger|last4= MacDonald|first4= Judith|last5= Marshall|first5= Bruce|title= Connections with Hawaiki: the Evidence of a Shell Tool from Wairau Bar, Marlborough, New Zealand|journal= Journal of Pacific Archaeology|year= 2011|volume= 2}}</ref> The other is a 6&nbsp;cm-long Polynesian pearl fishing-lure found at Tairua in 1962. This lure has been reliably dated to the early- to mid-14th century. It was found at a typical small coastal moa-hunters' site which has been interpreted as an itinerant hunting camp ({{lang|mi|whakaruruhau}}).<ref>CFG Heritage Ltd. [[Louise Furey]]. 2009. Report to Historical Places Trust.2009.</ref> The discovery of Mayor Island [[obsidian]] on the [[Kermadec Islands]], halfway between New Zealand and Tonga, strongly suggests that return journeys were made.{{sfn|King|2003|page=48}}

The new land also provided new opportunities: Māori learned to use local resources like [[pounamu]], native timber, {{lang|mi|[[harakeke]]}} and the abundant birdlife, producing practical tools or food, as well as beautiful ornaments and items of clothing. This adaptation to the opportunities and challenges of the new environment led to the development of the Classic Māori culture.