The Museum of Archaeology Ōtautahi is a Christchurch story, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s a museum born of the post-earthquake demolition, recovery and rebuild work in the city, and one that captures stories about much bigger themes and processes, such as colonialism and capitalism. It’s a record of the city’s past and its people, as revealed by archaeology.

MoAŌ has been developed by Christchurch Archaeology Project, with generous support from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. It’s a way for us to make accessible the rich legacy of the post-earthquake archaeological work, which has resulted in an internationally significant archaeological collection. You can find out more about Christchurch Archaeology Project’s work by heading over to our main website.

Learn more about how you can search MoAŌ. You can dive deep into the nitty-gritty of how we put the data together. We recommend checking this out if you’re using the data for research purposes. And if you do want to use the data for research, sign up for researcher access. This will give you access to more detailed information.

Acknowledgements

The database and website were built by Intranel, a Christchurch-based software development company, with the website design by Great Scott. The funding for the project came from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund, and we’re very grateful for their support. The database structure was designed by Jessie Garland (one of CAP’s own!) and the data was entered by our data entry team: Ebony Pike, Madison Gamble, Sam Wallis and Sayali Sangamnerkar. We’d also like to acknowledge the input of our Project Advisory Group: Professor Atholl Anderson, Dr Rebecca Phillips (University of Auckland), Dr Tim Evans (Archaeology Data Service) and Vanessa Tanner (Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga).

Disclaimer

Archaeological and historical information is often limited by the survival and availability of records. On top of this, much of the archaeological work MoAŌ draws on was carried out in emergency circumstances. As such, there may be errors in the data and some records are incomplete. If you spot an error, please contact us to let us know.

Privacy statement

We respect your privacy, and we understand that your personal information belongs to you and that you trust us to keep it safe.

We collect personal information from you:

  • when you sign up to receive our newsletter; and/or
  • when you sign up to gain researcher access.

When you visit this website, we collect information that about which pages are visited, how often the site is visited and other similar data. This information cannot be used to identify you. It is collected to better understand how people use our website, and to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

We do not share any of the information we collect with third parties. The personal information we collect is kept safe and secure by storing it in encrypted files and limiting access to relevant team members.

The information you provide is used for the purpose for which it was collected, to enable us to communicate with you and/or to provide access to certain types of data. We do not hold or store personal information about you for longer than is required to provide these services.

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you can ask to access or correct your personal information at any time – simply email us at info@museumofarchaeology.org. Please note, we will need to verify your identity before any information is provided. For further information, please see the Privacy Commissioner’s website.