These solar observatories lie scattered over the length and breadth of New Zealand in whatsoever locations ancient pre-Maori people settled in sizeable numbers. They were very important for checking and regulating the calendar, to keep all planting and harvesting optimised and happening on the correct days during the year, thus ensuring the greatest chance of abundant returns.
Researcher, Barry Taylor squats down in a specially built, ancient sighting pit at Tapapakanga Park, near Thames, NZ to observe the Southern Hemisphere's Winter Solstice sunrise on the distant Coromandel Ranges. From the hilltop sighting pit, which was built by the ancient Patu-paiarehe surveyor-astronomers, the Winter Solstice sun gives a very precise "first glint" fix in a conspicuous "V" trough on the range.
The ancient people built a large beehive house, hovel dome village at Tapapakanga, complete with two large ampitheatres, a stone-lined water course and many mounds or other structures in the sheltered valley by the sea. The late-era Maori warriors attacked them and survivors fled into the seclusion of the rugged Coromandel and Hunua Ranges to hide.
Down in the valley where the remains of the village structures are found, Barry stands on a specially built hump that relates to both the Winter Solstice and Equinox sunrises. An arrow is shown ascending from the sighting pit up on the hill where he earlier observed the Winter Solstice sunrise to occur on the Coromandel Ranges. From the valley hump position the sun rises from the hilltop pit. In other words, an individual standing in the sighting pit up on the hill became the outer-marker for another observer down at the valley hump to get a precise fix on the Winter Solstice day. The high ranges are often enshrouded in clouds, so this second, somewhat less accurate method offered an alternative fix.
From the purpose-built hump that Barry is standing upon, the view eastwards is onto this impressive geological feature on the distant Coromandel Ranges. On the day of the Equinox the sun rises on the magnificent outer marker and this bi-annual occurrence gave ancient New Zealand astronomers at Tapapakanga a very exact calendar fix for both the Vernal and Autumn Equinoxes.
The equinoctial sun launches itself into the sky from the position of the impressive geological feature on the Coromandel Ranges. This photo-event heralded the beginning of New Zealand's Autumn for 2010. Tapapakanga Park's purpose-built hump solar-observatory, therefore, works perfectly to give Winter Solstice and Equinox fixes and now only needs to be tested at the Summer Solstice to see if a clear outer marker exists for that solar event also. It would be impossible to state just how many of these solar observatories existed around New Zealand in ancient times, but the number would assuredly be in the thousands, if not the tens of thousands. Many survive and still work perfectly. Wherever an ancient, pre-Maori established community existed, a purpose-built solar observatory would invariably exist somewhere nearby to serve their calendar-correction needs.
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