Share a New Zealand book for children or teens that deserves more attention
Digging up the past: archaeology for the young and
curious.
Written by David Veart.
Auckland University Press, 2011.
What do moa eggs, seeds chewed by rats & 600-year-old
footprints have in common? Lost planes, dog turds and frozen sleeping bags?
Archaeologists deal with artefacts like these every day in Aotearoa New Zealand
to make sense of the world of our ancestors, our tūpūna. In this book David
Veart walks alongside the archaeologists as they dig up the past on top of
volcanoes and beneath our city streets, in Māori pā and explorers' huts. He
offers us the things they find - obsidian blades, enamel cups, the carved prow
of a waka - and the remarkable stories they have uncovered of Polynesian
sailors and Pākehā sealers, Māori gardeners and Chinese storekeepers.
David Veart worked as a DOC historian and archaeologist for
years. This is a brilliant book, and should be more known. I’d love if it was
updated and reprinted!
No comments:
Post a Comment