Historical Rocks on the Raglan coastline.

These petroglyph inscribed rocks are gradually being destroyed seemingly with the tacit sanction of some Maoris, local government and authorities.

Rocks covered in petroglyphs, acknowledged by Maori and experts as being non-Maori and of unknown* pre-Maori origin, have been left to disintegrate due to sea erosion and wave action.
* Possibly known and kept secret.
At high tide the Tasman sea pounds upon these rocks which have obviously been rolled to their current position from further up the hillside. Were they markers deliberately rolled down hill by the Maori invader? Did earth tremors that frequently rock this coastline, cause them to be dislodged? They are of a rock unlike all the other boulders found on the foreshore that are either covered by the sea or pounded by the waves at high tide.

Because the artwork on these rocks is not Maori the authorities are indifferent to their fate. Some Maoris would be pleased to see them disappear as it would remove an enigma of the truth about the past. According to some sources a Maori tapu was placed upon these rocks so that they could not be found easily and would presumably disappear from the curiosity and attention of the general public. Certainly there are some members of the general public from whom the location of the rocks is probably best kept to avoid direct vandalism. The significance of these rocks is that they confirm the presence of pre-Maori human endeavour in this country. Not something current politically correct attitudes like to acknowledge or accept.

The real vandals are those with the able authority and resources to preserve the rocks, yet who knowingly leave these historical rocks at their unnatural location on the foreshore. Perhaps they hope that the sea will complete the destruction started when the rocks were dislodged from their hillside location above the shore line. The destruction is proceeding at a significant rate. Recent photographs, when compared with similar photos taken many years ago, show a significant deterioration has occurred. Like it or not these rocks and their petroglyphs are known and significant proof of a very early non-Maori presence in pre-Maori times. The rocks should be retrieved and relocated above the high tide mark with some form of protective construction to prevent further deterioration, so that they will still be available for analysis when there is a more honest and investigative approach to NZ history and archaeology.

If you have additional information about these rocks and good quality photographs that can be digitally scanned please send or confide such to "Mhorruairidh". Recently there have been two further significant rock finds from the same general region of NZ. One of a rock with interesting inscriptions, in a stream bed and another standing stone atop a hill. This latter rock is interesting because it has in relatively recent years been pushed onto it's side