1907: Cavern of Bones

December 6, 2018

By AHNZ

Cavern of bones discovered at Cornwall Park and the cave entrance in 1907

A party of Aucklanders yesterday explored the caves in Cornwall Park, which was originally a fortress of the great chief Kiwi Tamaki. Tons upon tons of bones formed a deposit of human debris four feet high. So long had the bones been there that they had assumed the semblance of white earth. There are other caves, which will be explored at a future time.- STAR, 4 JUNE 1907

My understanding is that when a Maori of an important class died he was put in an Egyptian-like sarcophagus for about a year within a protected boundary (see previous post.) The body would have been put in a sitting position, like the ancients. Then, the bones would be scraped and deposited in a special place such as this cave.

This deep cave of bones must represent hundreds of years of this practise. I presume it is still there today but kept fairly hush-hush.