Abstract
Dynamic post-contact Maori settlement patterns in Te Tau Ihu o te Waka a Maui (the northern South Island) are used to investigate agency and the role of emergent nineteenth century European population on Maori landscape use. The study has shown that the settlement pattern changes observed in the 1770 to 1830 period were due mainly to agency and internal cultural drivers of change rather than by forces external to Aotearoa New Zealand. The conceptual framework is informed by social archaeological theory drawn from international culture contact studies. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to aid the analysis of temporal and spatial data derived from historical maps and charts augmented with archaeological, historical and ethnographic information.