Maungataketake (also Ellett's Mount) is one of the volcanoes in the

Auckland volcanic field The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a divers ...

in New Zealand. It had a 76 m high scoria cone, beside a 100 m wide crater, before they were quarried away. It was the site of a

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

. Layers of volcanic tuff and ash from Maungataketake overlay the fallen trunks of the nearby

Ihumātao fossil forest Ihumātao is an archaeological site of historic importance in the suburb of Māngere, Auckland. Once a pā site, it stands on the Ihumātao Peninsula, at the base of Ōtuataua, part of the Auckland volcanic field. Its scoria cone reaches above ...

. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the Creative New Zealand, arts, Culture of New Zealand, culture, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, built heritage, Sport Ne ...

gives a translation of "broad mountain" for ''Maungataketake''. The volcano erupted an estimated 90,000 years before the present. Maungataketake was one of the earliest archaeological sites in New Zealand, with charcoal samples dating to the Archaic period of Māori history. Extensive stone gardens were built by

Tāmaki Māori Tāmaki Māori are Māori ''iwi'' and ''hapū'' (tribes and sub-tribes) who have a strong connection to Tāmaki Makaurau (the Auckland Region), and whose rohe was traditionally within the region. Among Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the M� ...

at Maungataketake, Ōtuataua and

Ihumātao Ihumātao is an archaeological site of historic importance in the suburb of Māngere, Auckland. Once a pā site, it stands on the Ihumātao Peninsula, at the base of Ōtuataua, part of the Auckland volcanic field. Its scoria cone reaches above ...

in the mid-1400s. In the early 1700s, Maungataketake was one of the major defensive pā during the

Waiohua Te Waiohua or Te Wai-o-Hua is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) confederation that thrived in the early 17th century. The rohe (tribal area) was primarily the central Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau area (the Auckland isthmus) and they had pā (for ...

confederacy era. In December 1862, the Ellett family purchased land from the former Wesleyan Mission at Ihumātao. Their association with the area led to the name Ellett's Mount for the volcano. In 1866, ownership of Maungataketake and Ihumātao was returned to

Apihai Te Kawau Apihai Te Kawau (died November 1869) was a paramount chief of the Ngāti Whātua Māori iwi (tribe) of Auckland (), New Zealand in the 19th century. Te Kawau's father was Tarahawaiki and his grandfather was Tūperiri, the principal leader of T ...

, chief of

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa ...

in Auckland, after the land confiscations instigated during the

Invasion of the Waikato The invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...

. From September 1962, the volcanic cone was quarried for construction materials in the creation of

Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is an international airport serving Auckland, the most populous city of New Zealand. It is the largest and busiest airport in the country, with over 18.7 million passengers served in the year ended December 2024. The airpor ...

References

*''City of Volcanoes: A geology of Auckland'' – Searle, Ernest J.; revised by Mayhill, R.D.; Longman Paul, 1981. First published 1964. . *''Volcanoes of Auckland: The Essential Guide'' – Hayward, B.W., Murdoch, G., Maitland, G.; Auckland University Press, 2011. *''Volcanoes of Auckland: A Field Guide''. Hayward, B.W.; Auckland University Press, 2019, 335 pp. .

External links

1937 photo of Maungataketake showing Maori terracing.

1899 photo of Maungataketake before quarrying (on page 29).

* [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=SEE_ALSO&QF0=Subjects&QI0

%22Elletts+Mount%22&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2Fheritageimages%2Findex.htm&TN=heritageimages&SN=AUTO9334&SE=1542&RN=0&MR=20&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=HIOReport&EF=&DF=HIORecord&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=2&ID=&MF=WPEngMsg.ini&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=1194&NR=1&NB=0&SV=0&SS=1&BG=&FG=&QS=index&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1 Photographs of Maungataketake] held in Auckland Libraries, Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Auckland volcanic field Auckland volcanic field Mountains of the Auckland Region Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board Area