Table of Contents

Introduction: Leave nothing but footprints -- 1. A Nation of Voyagers -- 2. A New World of Meat and Giant Birds -- 3. Archaeological dating and a slight problem with rats -- 4. Kuri: pets, cloaks and four legged fridges -- 5. Archaeological words ... When to sight or cite a site -- 6. New land, new gardens (same old veggies) -- 7. Pa and Learning to See -- 8. Wandering Celts meet context and Occam's razor: Archaeology on the Fringe -- 9. Tales from Tools -- 10. In It Up to Your Elbows: Stratigraphy, Midden Analysis and the Archaeology of your Garbage -- 11. Mining the sea, the Archaeology of Sealing and Whaling -- 12. Archaeology on Ice -- 13. All at Sea or The sands of Time -- 14. Excavating Forts and Files; a Story of Historic Archaeology (or) Boeing, Boeing Gone -- 15. The archaeology of not finding what you were looking for -- 16. Now where did all those trees go? The archaeology of Kauri Dams -- 17. Chinese Gold -- 18. Location, Location, Location: Urban Archaeology -- Postscript: Moa under the Minefield.

About the Author

David Veart is a Department of Conservation archaeologist with a wide interest in New Zealand's history. He is the author of First Catch Your Weka: A Story of New Zealand Cooking (AUP, 2008).

Reviews

"I actually defy anyone . . . not to be captivated by this. . . . Reading it's a bit like an archaeological dig in itself. I never knew what I was going to find and you keep wanting to dig on. I uncovered lots of really interesting stuff and I was left wiser by the experience." --John McIntyre, Children's Book Review, Radio New Zealand National (November 18, 2011)
"I certainly under any classification couldn't be called young and I found it a really good read. A good straight book which is very well presented, very well laid out, very lively reading and, I think, would hold a lot of people's attention because you are in no danger of being bored." --Harry Broad, Nine to Noon, Radio New Zealand National (November 24, 2011)
"This is an excellent book for young readers, linking some of our own important stories to 'how we know, ' and including some of the interesting technical stuff." --Nigel Prickett, New Zealand Association of Archaeologists (November 1, 2011)