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Further Sources

More links and websites

  • Anderson – AMS radiocarbon determinations of Rattus exulans

    ‘Differential reliability of 14C AMS ages of Rattus exulans bone gelatin in south Pacific prehistory.’ An abstract of a paper which questions the reliability of rat bones for radiocarbon dating. This and the three abstracts below are from the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand online, with links to the full papers in PDF format.

  • Brook – Prehistoric predation of the land snail

    ‘Prehistoric predation of the land snail Placostylus ambagiosus Suter (Stylommatophora: Bulimulidae).’ An abstract of a paper that describes rat damage to fossil land snail shells and provides evidence for the timing of establishment of rats in northernmost New Zealand.

  • Holdaway et al. – Comparison of age estimates by optical and radiocarbon dating

    ‘Optical dating of quartz sediments and accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating of bone gelatin and moa eggshell: a comparison of age estimates for non-archaeological deposits in New Zealand.’ An abstract of a paper that compares optical dating of quartz sediments and radiocarbon dating of rat bones.

  • Holdaway et al. – Extinction of owlet-nightjar

    ‘Late Holocene extinction of the New Zealand owlet-nightjar.’ An abstract of a paper that describes how populations of the owlet-nightjar, a small almost flightless bird, may have gone into decline before the accepted date of Polynesian settlement.

  • Landcare Research

    This website explains how plants can be used to date human arrival in New Zealand.

  • New Zealand Radiocarbon Database

    This website accesses the New Zealand radiocarbon database, allowing a search of close to 3,000 New Zealand dates obtained from archaeological sites since the 1960s.

  • Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory

    The website of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science’s radiocarbon laboratory in Lower Hutt.

  • Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory

    The website of University of Waikato’s radiocarbon dating laboratory provides access to the New Zealand radiocarbon database (above).

More suggestions and sources

    • Anderson, A. J. ‘The age disconformity in AMS radiocarbon results on Rattus exulans bone.’ New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 24 (2002): 149–156.

    • Anderson, A. J. and T. F. G. Higham. ‘The age of rat introduction in New Zealand: further evidence from earthquakes #1, North Otago.’ New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 24 (2002): 135–147.

    • Beavan-Athfield, N. R. ‘Reliability of 14C AMS dating of rat and bird bone: implications for the timing of New Zealand Holocene vertebrate extinctions.’ In Radiocarbon and archaeology: fourth international symposium, St Catherine's College, Oxford, 9–14 April 2002, conference proceedings. Oxford: Oxford University School of Archaeology, 2004.

    • Beavan-Athfield, N. R., and others. ‘Environmental influences on dietary carbon and 14C ages in modern rats and other species.’ Radiocarbon 43, no. 1 (2001): 7–14.

    • Higham, T. F. G., and A. G. Hogg. ‘Evidence for late Polynesian colonisation of New Zealand: University of Waikato radiocarbon measurements.’ Radiocarbon 39, no. 2 (1997): 149–192.

    • Higham, T. F. G., and F. J. Petchey. ‘On the reliability of archaeological rat bone for radiocarbon dating in New Zealand.’ Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 30 (2000): 399–409.

    • Higham, T. F. G., and others. ‘Dating the first New Zealanders: the chronology of Wairau Bar.’ Antiquity 73 (1999): 420–427.

    • Higham, T. F. G., and others. ‘Problems associated with the AMS dating of small bone samples: the question of arrival of Polynesian rats to New Zealand.’ Radiocarbon 46, no. 1 (2004): 207–218.

    • Hogg, A. G., and others. ‘A wiggle-match date for Polynesian settlement of New Zealand.’ Antiquity 77 (2003): 116–125.

    • Howe, K. R. The quest for origins: who first discovered and settled New Zealand and the Pacific Islands? Auckland: Penguin, 2003.

    • Irwin, Geoff. The prehistoric exploration and colonisation of the Pacific. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

    • King, Michael. The Penguin history of New Zealand. Auckland: Penguin, 2003.

    • Lowe, D. J., and others. ‘Tephras and New Zealand archaeology.’ Journal of Archaeological Science 27 (2000): 859–870.

    • McFadgen, B. G., and others. ‘Radiocarbon calibration curve variations and their implications for the interpretation of New Zealand prehistory.’ Radiocarbon 36, no. 2 (1994): 221–236.

    • McGlone, M. S., and J. M. Wilmshurst. ‘Dating initial Maori environmental impact in New Zealand.’ Quaternary International 59 (1999): 5–16.

    • Newnham, R. M., and others. ‘The Kaharoa tephra as a critical datum for earliest human impact in northern New Zealand.’ Journal of Archaeological Science 25 (1998): 533–544.

    • Wilmshurst, J. M., and T. F. G. Higham. ‘Using rat-gnawed seeds to independently date the arrival of Pacific rats and humans to New Zealand.’ The Holocene 14, no. 6 (2004): 801–806.

    • Worthy, T. H., and R. N. Holdaway. The lost world of the moa: prehistoric life of New Zealand. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2002.



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