Māori kūmara horticulture and rua storage pits
Horticultura de kūmara y almacenes rua maoríes
- Date
- c. 1300-1400 · confidence medium
- Place
- Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand
- Credited to
- Māori people
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Adaptation of the tropical sweet potato to New Zealand's temperate climate through soils enriched with gravel and sand, and underground rua storage pits that protected the tubers through winter. It made farming possible at the southern limit of the crop's range.
Māori arrival in New Zealand is now dated to c. 1250-1300.
What it led to
- Māori settlement of the North Island
- fortified pā protecting the storage pits
- Māori anthropic soils identifiable today