Abstract
Across the globe and particularly in post-colonial contexts, archaeologists have an increasing awareness of the moral obligation and practical benefit of collaborating with groups outside the profession. Wider inclusivity in archaeology takes a variety of forms from which a range of potential methodologies have evolved, sparking debates about best practise. Commonalities among collaborative methodologies include giving control of the archaeological narrative to those outside the archaeological community as well as the recognition of the legitimacy of traditional knowledge (Simons, 2017). Of particular interest in this thesis is the practise of cultural mapping, which involves communities identifying and recording their local cultural assets and histories. While not intended for the recording of strictly archaeological sites these are likely to be included in cultural mapping, particularly in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. As such, this thesis examined the means by which archaeological and indigenous understandings of heritage landscapes can be integrated during the practice of cultural mapping in Aotearoa New Zealand. To do so, this thesis had two objectives; First a collaborative cultural mapping and archaeological mapping exercise at Whareongaonga 5, with a spatial and methodological comparison of the two. The results of this exercise demonstrated that there is a clear spatial overlap between cultural mapping and archaeological mapping, however cultural mapping presented a far broader range of information, most of which was not able to be represented or recorded spatially. Second, the cultural mapping information supplied by participants was collated and presented in the form of an ArcGIS StoryMap, to create a digital resource for the Whareongaonga 5 community. In this, some archaeological information was integrated as part of the Whareongaonga narrative. Although not included as part of this thesis due to the sensitive nature of the information it contains, feedback presented from the StoryMap shows that it was very well received. Overall, it was found that integrating cultural and archaeological information was best achieved in the form of an ArcGIS StoryMap, which used multi-media and interactive maps to present a story of both cultural and archaeological narrative. In addition, it is anticipated that cultural mapping will be increasingly adopted in Aotearoa New Zealand, likely creating more instances for the heritage and archaeological sector to collaborate with iwi. With this, archaeologists need to reconcile their role in facilitating the recording of this information, enabling communities to tell their own stories as well as providing a specialist skillsets such as mapping, recording and presentation of information.