Archaeology Week

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an archaeologist? What is archaeology? What do archaeologists do?

Join us during Archaeology Week for a chance to be an archaeologist for the day, and explore the fascinating world of uncovering history.

Archaeology Week 2025

Be an archaeologist for a day!

SUN 11 MAY, 10AM - 3PM
FREE WITH MUSEUM ENTRY
ORIENTATION SPACE, TE AO MĀRAMA SOUTH ATRIUM

Join us this Archaeology Week for a family-friendly event offering a unique opportunity to become an archaeologist for the day! Explore the fascinating world of uncovering history.

Archaeology is all about putting together clues from what was left behind, to understand the past. Learn about the methods and technology used by archaeologists to solve puzzles and discover how people used to live, what they ate, and what tools they used.

Meet our archaeologists and try hands-on activities such as bone- and shell-sorting, reconstructing pottery, and so much more!

New Zealand Archaeology Week is held annually to raise awareness and highlight the importance of protecting our archaeological heritage.

THE AUCKLAND MUSEUM PODCAST

Collecting Egypt

The Mummy in our Te Onamata Ancient Worlds gallery has come a long way from her home in Ancient Egypt, and on her journey she lost something really important - her name. In this episode of The Amp we hear the incredible tale of the work done to reunite the mummy with her identity. We also explore the ways we've acquired taonga from ancient Egypt, and what comes next as our role as kaitiaki evolves.

LISTEN NOW

What is Archaeology? by Toni-Maree Rowe

Museum volunteer Toni-Maree has worked as an archaeologist in Aotearoa and the UK and has put together the following video for Archaeology Week explaining what archaeology is and what archaeology is present in Aotearoa.

Computer-based Technology & Archaeology by Matthew Barrett

This short video describes how modern computer-based technologies are helping archaeologists investigate the past, from digital models of the landscape for identifying archaeological features to virtual simulations for testing out ideas about the past.

+About Matthew Barrett

Matthew Barrett is an archaeologist and doctoral researcher at the University of Auckland. Matt's research uses computer simulation to explore ideas about stone artefacts and past human behaviour in different parts of the world. He is particularly interested in the archaeology of Aotearoa and Australia, and has also completed fieldwork in Egypt.

Ancient DNA by Natalie Remedios

Ancient DNA is a useful tool for studying the past. DNA can be extracted from animal bone hundreds and thousands of years old allowing archaeologists to discover what species were present in the past from small fragments of bone recovered from archaeological sites. Check out the video to see how scientists extract ancient DNA from bone and teeth and how it can help archaeologists.

+About Natalie Remedios

Dr Natalie Remedios is Senior Technician in the Palaeomolecular Anthropology Laboratory at the University of Auckland. Her work focuses on the analysis of ancient DNA from animal bone.

Excavations on Ōtata Island by Emma Ash

During the past two summers archaeologists from Auckland Museum have been working out on Ōtata Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Excavations have revealed a massive amount of shell, bone and stone which hold clues to how Māori lived hundreds of years ago and what they ate, but also what the environment used to look like.

+About Emma Ash

Emma Ash is Associate Curator, Archaeology at Auckland Museum. In addition to museum curation her interests include reconstructing past environments using archaeological data and the application of archaeology to issues such as climate change and conservation.

Coprolites Just Got Real by Deirdre Harrison

Coprolites (or fossilized poo) preserved in archaeological sites hold important information about people and animals in the past, such as what they ate and drank and gut health. Check out this short video to learn more about what coprolites are and why they are important to archaeologists.

+About Deirdre Harrison

Deirdre Harrison is the Collection Manager in the Archaeology Department at Auckland Museum. She has a background in Archaeology, Classics and Chemistry.

Kurī in Aotearoa by Patricia Pillay

When the Polynesian ancestors of Māori arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, they brought their dogs with them. Patricia looks at these close relationships between dogs and humans by studying dog teeth from North Island archaeological sites which can offer clues into the life of these individuals and changes in the environments they experienced in the past. The Māori kurī has an important place in further understanding the evolving relationship between dogs and humans, further contributing to understanding the world's oldest animal domesticate on islands in the Pacific and the landscape they shared with humans in the past.

+About Patricia Pillay

Patricia is a zooarchaeologist and postgraduate student at the University of Auckland. She is passionate about human-animal relationships, and her research focuses on extinctions, conservation, and heritage management.

Pā sites in Aotearoa by Louise Furey

With over 1000 identified sites in Aotearoa, pā could be the most recogniseable archaeological feature on our country's landscape. In this talk Louise Furey, Curator of Archaeology explores what physical features of the pā remain and what they can teach us about the people who interacted with them.

+About Louise Furey

Louise Furey is the Curator of Archaeology at Auckland Museum and is responsible for Māori archaeological collections, assemblages from excavated Auckland historic sites, Pacific archaeological collections, and the rest of the world archaeological material from Egypt, Europe, Asia, North and South America. Her research interests are around Māori material culture, traditional Māori gardening, and the sites and material culture of the first 200 years after Polynesians arrived in Aotearoa.

Waipapa Rock Art by Deirdre Harrison

Rock art is one of the oldest forms of art in the world, and New Zealand boasts a long and widespread rock art tradition. In this talk Deirdre Harrison explores the features of rock art, and some fascinating finds from around Aotearoa - some of which are in the Museum collection today.

+About Deirdre Harrison

Deirdre Harrison is the Collection Manager in the Archaeology Department at Auckland Museum. She has a background in Archaeology, Classics and Chemistry.

What can ancient coins tell us?

Coins can tell us about religion, politics, history, economics and cultural exchange, and even how the Ancient World has continued to attract attention long after the Fall of Rome. In this blog, summer student Alex Lewis examines some of the ancient Greek and Roman coins in our collection.

It's what's inside that counts

To archaeologists, one man's trash really is another man's treasure. So much can be learned about a person by examining the things they've left behind, even if the original owner didn't think they were particularly important. Read on to discover a story of a 20th century teenager, pieced together from the contents of a rather unconventional rubbish bin.

Chaos and Order

Ancient Egyptian religion was complex and polytheistic, with multiple deities representing and controlling aspects of the natural environment and concepts such as love and creativity. The worship and rituals associated with these deities formed a core part of ancient Egyptian life and maintaining Ma’at, or divine order, peace and balance.

Rediscovering our archaeological collections

Lori Bowers shares her experiences of working with the Archaeological Collections at Auckland Museum. Material from archaeological excavations are diverse and has to be curated and recorded in a consistent way. Because of the quantity of material, the task can be repetitive but there are always interesting things to discover.

Kurī in Archaeology

For Archaeology Week 2018, we took a closer look at man's best friend. Discover the story of the Polynesian dog or kurī, and its importance to archaeological investigation in Aotearoa.

Excavating Otata Island: A Midden Revealed

In March 2020, Auckland Museum archaeologists carried out a small excavation in a large coastal midden on Otata Island in the Hauraki Gulf, Tikapa Moana. Our changing climate and rising sea level is having an impact on our archaeological heritage. New Zealand Archaeology Week provides an opportunity to raise awareness of these changes.

What's on

Archaeology Week

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an archaeologist? What is archaeology? What do archaeologists do?

Join us during Archaeology Week for a chance to be an archaeologist for the day, and explore the fascinating world of uncovering history.