This study is an archaeological examination of the prehistoric hunting of moa, a family (Dinornithidae) of now extinct large flightless birds that inhabited New Zealand. The analysis employs a detailed butchering pattern analysis for the moa remains and combines it with a lithic usewear microchipping and polish analysis. The usewear analysis examines two lithic materials, porcellanite and silcrete. The criteria used to distinguish worked material in the usewear study. The general patterns of moa exploitation and butchering are defined in a faunal analysis of moa remains from sites from throughout New Zealand. Hunting strategies are examined in a case study of the Clutha River area of southern New Zealand, by interpreting the results of the butchering pattern analysis in combination with the usewear analysis results and some of the general aspects of site type and location. It is concluded that moa were hunted by an individual hunting strategy, probably with wooden spears. Hunting was done from habitation sites, not from temporary camps established from base camps. Hunting did not specialise in any one particular moa species. In addition to meat, bone marrow was also particular moa species. In addition to meat, bone marrow was also extracted and eaten. No evidence of meat preservation was found. The results correspond well with expectations based on analogies from traditional hunting of other large birds and in east Polynesia, suggesting the methodology is reliable for studying hunting and could be applied elsewhere.
The study also includes an examination of bone anatomical landmarks as a means to identifying moa species. The hypothesised significance of the variation in these traits is used to make suggestions about possible moa behaviour. It is suggested that Megalapteryx didinus was more awkward than the other moa, that Anomalopteryx didiformis may have had a diet more similar to that of the kiwi than to that of the other moa, and that Dinornis species may have balanced their centre of gravity differently from other moa. Based on the manner in which moa were hunted, it is proposed that moa did not congregate in large flocks.
