Modern archaeology suggests the first human occupation of southern New Zealand around 1100 ACE. There are numerous moa-hunter sites in what is now Dunedin, several of them large and permanently occupied, particularly in the 14th century. There was a settlement in what is now central Dunedin occupied as late as about 1785 but abandoned by 1826. Captain James Cook stood off what is now the coast of Dunedin between February 25 and March 5, 1770. He reported penguins and seals in the vicinity, which led sealers to visit from the beginning of the 19th century. The early years of sealing saw a feud between sealers and local Maori. Permanent European occupation dates from 1831 bringing epidemics that reduced the Maori population. By the late 1830s the harbor was an international whaling port. The Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland founded Dunedin at the head of Otago Harbour in 1848 as the principal town of its Scottish settlement. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. Charles Kettle the city's surveyor, instructed to emulate the characteristics of Edinburgh, produced a striking, ‘romantic’ design. The result was both grand and quirky streets as the builders struggled and sometimes failed to construct his bold vision across the challenging landscape.
posted by Hills @ 8:07 PM
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