Otuataua

Otuataua, on the Ihumātao Peninsular, is located in the suburb of Mangere, is one of the volcanoes in the Auckland Volcanic Field. The scoria cone reached 64 m / 210 feet above sea level and was the site of a large Māori pā.

Contents

• William chan on the way to otuataua stonefields nz 2017
• Occupation
• References

The volcanic cone of Otuataua is sited within the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve and as the dominant landscape feature, lends the 100 hectare reserve its name. The cone provided a fortified village to the original inhabitants, with the lower slopes of the volcano supporting intensive Māori gardening. The volcanic soils extend all the way to the shoreline where there was access to the abundance of the Manukau Harbour. The sandy beaches and wide tidal flats were once rich with shellfish and the harbour provided fish and a regionally important shark fishery.

The Otuataua Stonefields are part of an area known as Ihumatao or Te Ihu a Mataoho “The Nose of Mataoho”. The Stonefields feature Māori stone garden mounds and Māori and European dry-stone walls; the visible histories of Ihumātao are interwoven with the history of Auckland, as it is possible to trace the history of human presence in Auckland from initial Māori settlement to the arrival of Europeans in the 1860s with their pastoral farming techniques.

Regrettably the 64 metre high Otuataua cone was quarried in 1950s and the scoria used for building work, including the building of Auckland Airport. At the completion of quarrying, remedial reconstruction created a shallow, grassy crater.

Adjacent to Otuataua in the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve lies Te Puketapapatanga a Hape / Puketiti ( Puketapapa ) - Auckland's smallest volcano - of deep spiritual significance to mana whenua.