Atholl John Anderson (born 1943) is a New Zealand archaeologist who has worked extensively in New Zealand and the Pacific. His work is notable for its syntheses of history, biology, ethnography and archaeological evidence. He made a major contribution to the evidence given by the iwi (tribe)
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...
to the
Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...
.
Early life
Anderson was born in 1943 in
Hāwera
Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was establishe ...
and is descended from
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...
on
Stewart Island
Stewart Island (, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait.
It is a roughly triangular island with a la ...
.
He grew up in
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
and
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
.
Anderson was educated at
Otago Boys' High School
Otago Boys' High School (OBHS) is a secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's oldest boys' secondary schools. Originally known as Dunedin High School, it was founded on 3 August 1863 and moved to its present site in 18 ...
, and then, from 1958 to 1961, at
Nelson College
Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand, a feat achieved in part thanks to its original inception as a private school. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it r ...
, where he played in the school's 1st XI
hockey
''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
team in 1960 and 1961.
Education
Anderson conducted a survey of archaeological sites in
Tasman Bay
Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches alon ...
for his
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in geography from the
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
, which he received in 1966. His master's thesis title was ''Maori occupation sites in back beach deposits around Tasman Bay''. He then completed a Diploma in Teaching and in 1968 became assistant principal of a school in
Karamea
Karamea is a town on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost settlement of any real size on the West Coast, and is located northeast by road from Westport, New Zealand, Westport. Apart ...
on the
West Coast of the
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
.
In 1970, he began an
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in anthropology at the
University of Otago
The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...
, which he completed in 1973 with first-class honours.
His thesis was on the subsistence behaviour at Black Rocks Peninsula in
Palliser Bay, where he participated in a University of Otago archaeology research project from 1969 to 1972.
He received a Commonwealth Scholarship that enabled him to go to
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, where he undertook fieldwork in northern Sweden and completed his PhD thesis, ''Prehistoric Competition and Economic Change in Northern Sweden'', in 1976.
Career
Anderson took up his first academic position in 1977 at the
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
. The following year, he was appointed as an assistant lecturer in the Anthropology Department at the University of Otago, progressing to a
personal chair
Academic ranks in the United Kingdom are the titles, relative seniority and responsibility of employees in universities. In general the country has three academic career pathways: one focused on research, one on teaching, and one that combines ...
in the department. He left Otago in 1993 to take up the Establishment Chair of Prehistory at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
in
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
.
On his return to Otago in 1978, Anderson commenced a major programme of fieldwork, the Southern Hunters Project, at 20 sites in southern New Zealand. Important sites were excavated at
Pūrākaunui
Pūrākaunui (formerly spelt Purakanui) is a small settlement in Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located within the bounds of the city of Dunedin, in a rural coastal area some to the north of the city centre.
Pūrākaunui lie ...
, Lee Island in
Lake Te Anau
Lake Te Anau () is in the southwestern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The lake covers an area of , making it the second-largest lake by surface area in New Zealand (after Lake Taupō) and the largest in the South Island. It is the ...
and the
Shag River mouth. The focus of many of the excavations was on prehistoric economics, the use of the marine environment and moa hunting. As a result, Anderson examined the chronology of colonisation and re-dated moa hunting sites throughout New Zealand such as at
Wairau Bar
The Wairau Bar, or Te Pokohiwi, is a gravel bar formed where the Wairau River meets the sea in Cloudy Bay, Marlborough, north-eastern South Island, New Zealand. It is an important archaeological site, settled by explorers from East Polynesia ...
and
Houhora
Houhora is a locality and harbour on the east side of the Aupouri Peninsula of Northland, New Zealand. It is north of Kaitaia. Waihopo, Te Raupo, Pukenui, Raio and Houhora Heads are associated localities on the southern shores of the harbour ...
.
After moving to Canberra in 1993, Anderson undertook fieldwork throughout the Pacific as part of two projects, the Indo-Pacific Colonisation Project and the Asian Fore-Arc Project. Themes of his work were the sequence of settlement of the islands of the Pacific, migration, dispersal and voyaging, and sustainability. His other interests in birds, fauna and extinction resulted in an extinct Fijian crocodile,
''Volia athollandersoni'', being named after him.
Anderson followed up his earlier work in southern New Zealand with the Southern Margins Project which commenced in 1998. It showed that Polynesian voyaging into the sub-polar regions (
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ; Moriori language, Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, and consisting of about 10 islands within an approxima ...
, Rakiura and
Auckland Islands
The Auckland Islands ( Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island ...
) occurred about 700 years ago.
While he is primarily an archaeologist, Anderson has used archaeology, history and ethnography extensively in his work. In an interview about his 1998 book ''The Welcome of Strangers: an Ethnohistory of Southern Maori AD 1650–1850'', he described it as a book that "draws together the disparate sources of information about later southern Māori in an attempt to describe, in some detail, the origins and migrations of the historical peoples, their social and economic organisation, their distribution in the landscape and their responses to the arrival of European culture". In 2015, he collaborated with historians
Judith Binney
Dame Judith Mary Caroline Binney (née Musgrove, 1 July 1940 – 15 February 2011) was a New Zealand historian, writer and Emerita Professor of History at the University of Auckland. Her work focussed on religion in New Zealand, especially ...
and
Aroha Harris to publish ''Tangata Whenua: a history'', which won an
Ockham New Zealand Book Award in 2016. The authors used environmental science, geology, linguistics, archaeology and history to investigate the migration and settlement of New Zealand.
In addition to his academic work, Anderson has served on the board of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now
Heritage New Zealand
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...
) and as an advisor to
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. He researched Ngāi Tahu's
Treaty of Waitangi claim
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
to the
Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...
.
Anderson retired in 2008 to live in the
Wairau Valley
Wairau Valley is the valley of the Wairau River in Marlborough, New Zealand and also the name of the main settlement in the upper valley. State Highway 63 runs through the valley. The valley opens onto the Wairau Plain, where Renwick and B ...
, Marlborough.
Awards and honours
* 1991 Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand
*1996 Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
*1996
James Cook Research Fellowship
*2001 Federation Medal of Australia for services to archaeology
*2002 Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
*2002 Doctorate of Science, University of Cambridge
*2006
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...
, for services to anthropology and archaeology, in the
2006 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in
the United Kingdom,
New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to c ...
*2015 Humanities Aronui Medal, Royal Society of New Zealand
* 2016
Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
*2019 Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Otago
Selected publications
* Anderson, A., 1983. ''When all the moa ovens grew cold : nine centuries of changing fortune for the southern Māori.'' Dunedin
.Z. Otago Heritage Books.
* Anderson, A., 1986. ''Te Puoho's last raid : the march from Golden Bay to Southland in 1836 and defeat at Tuturau.'' Dunedin
.Z. Otago Heritage Books.
* Anderson, A., 1989. ''Prodigious birds : moas and moa-hunting in prehistoric New Zealand.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Reprinted 2003)
* Anderson, A. 1998. ''The welcome of strangers : an ethnohistory of southern Maori A.D. 1650–1850.'' Dunedin, N.Z.: Otago University Press.
* Anderson Atholl, Judith Binney & Aroha Harris. 2015. ''Tangata whenua : a history.'' Wellington, New Zealand : Bridget Williams Books''.''
*
*
See also
*
'Ata – an island at the southern end of the Tongan archipelago
*
Moeraki
Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago area and a railwa ...
*
Palmerston, New Zealand
Palmerston is a town in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. Located 50 kilometres to the north of the city of Dunedin, it is the largest town in the Waihemo Ward of the Waitaki District, with a population of 890 residents. Palmerston grew ...
*
Polynesia
Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...
References
External links
Archaeological reports by Atholl Anderson on Heritage New Zealand website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Atholl
1943 births
Living people
Historians of the Pacific
Historians of Polynesia
20th-century New Zealand historians
New Zealand archaeologists
Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Academic staff of the University of Otago
University of Otago alumni
University of Canterbury alumni
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
20th-century archaeologists
21st-century archaeologists
People from Hāwera
Ngāi Tahu people
Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit
James Cook Research Fellows
People educated at Nelson College
21st-century New Zealand historians
Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
New Zealand Māori archaeologists
Academic staff of the Australian National University
People educated at Otago Boys' High School