Internet Archaeol. 16. Phillips. People and history

3.2 People and history

It is against these natural events that the human relationships and responses can be gauged. Great reliance was placed on the land-use practices described in the Maori Land Court Records in the Hauraki Māori example, but these records are not always available, as indeed they are not for the Taranaki research. Despite this, many of the problems itemised in Figure 1 could be addressed through tighter chronological control, so that dating of the occupations to ±10-25 years (unfortunately radiocarbon dating does not permit this degree of accuracy, neither does obsidian hydration), plus seasonality studies of midden and detailed stratigraphy in excavations, would identify the cycles and changes which might be expected in Aotearoa. However, such detailed studies are not always possible and would be very expensive, so that modelling based on the Hauraki data might be an alternative method to simulate the development of the Māori settlement system in Taranaki.

Two different simulations of cultural development are demonstrated by Hansell and Ranere (1997) who model population growth through the process of deforestation in Panama, and Velho and Velho (2001) who model competition between fictitious groups of hunters and pastoralists. Finally, the use of fuzzy logic and neural networks may also be of value here, as Reeler has demonstrated in her exploration of the classification of Māori pā (Reeler 1997). Studies such as this point the way towards creating a more anthropologically and historically aware interpretation of the past.