I've been following with interest the interchange of letters regarding Maori history and culture and a recent sentence stating that ‘pre European Maori were a peaceful people' had me looking again at my history books.
According to archaeological evidence in New Zealand the remains of settlements dated about 800AD, belonging to a people referred to as Moa Hunters or Moriori have been found in open country and without any form of protective wall around them. These alleged peaceful people were arguably not Maori and seemingly had no weapons of war.
The Maori fleet apparently arrived about 1100 AD and archaeological digs of their ‘pre European ‘settlements show that they very often had resort to a well fortified Pa, I wonder why.
D Lawrence Tauranga.