The relationship between human culture and the environment is an area of fundamental importance to modern archaeological enquiry. The investigation of this relationship led researchers to develop what has become known as the landscape approach, which focuses on the archaeological and environmental evidence of the interactions between people and the environment. Over the last two decades this approach has been utilised to investigate maritime cultural landscapes, with considerable success – albeit internationally. In New Zealand, landscape archaeology has been practised since the late 1970s. However, the investigation of maritime cultural landscapes has yet to be explored; resulting in considerable gaps in our understanding of the past.
This study applied the maritime cultural landscape approach to Otago Harbour in order to investigate the relationships between the harbour’s inhabitants and the marine environment. Evidence of this interaction was investigated through archaeological records of sites with maritime associations, targeted site survey of areas of foreshore and historical research.
The evidence of these interactions were discussed in relation to the themes of marine resource exploitation, navigation and landing places, hulks and abandoned watercraft, shipbuilding and repair, shipwrecks, harbour warfare and defence, and anthropogenic change to the harbour.
The application of the maritime cultural landscape approach to Otago Harbour revealed a great deal of information about the ways in which the inhabitants of Otago Harbour have interacted with the marine environment over time. This study also showed the considerable strength of this framework as a tool for heritage management and the need to investigate the maritime cultural landscapes of the other major harbours of New Zealand.
