Maori pa site

What is a maori pa site?
A pa site was a maori village or a defensive settlement. But it’s sometimes known as a hill fort. There are over 5000 of these pa’s. A simple pa called a tuwatawata were made out of a simple wood palisade that would go around the village with several elevated stage levels from which to defend and attack.


What were things needed for a pa site?
The basic things you needed for a pa were sleeping huts, stores of kumara, and other foods with specially erected pataka and pits for water. A wooden gong which is a pahu translated in maori was located at the highest point of the pa and was beaten to warn people of an enemy approaching. Every pa had something special to protect from other enemies. This was often a special stone that had a lot of mana or prestige for the pa and was buried under one of the corner posts.

What did pa sites consist of?
Maori pa sites mainly consisted of wood to go around the whole area. Some pa sites like a pa maioro were made out of rumparts, earthen ditches and many palisades. The most sceptical pā site was called a pā whakino, which mainly included all the other features plus more food storage areas, water wells, more terraces, ramparts, palisades, fighting stages, outpost stages and underground dug-posts.