The Kaimanawa Wall
In a New Zealand forest, a wall of huge, neatly squared blocks was claimed to be built by a lost people before the Māori. Geologists disagreed.
What was reported
In 1996, writers publicised a 'wall' in Kaimanawa Forest Park south of Lake Taupō: a line of large, rectangular stone blocks, neatly stacked, partly covered in forest. Some claimed it was built by an unknown people who lived in New Zealand before the Māori arrived.
The claim drew attention because it challenged the accepted history of the country's settlement.
Explanations offered
Geologists from New Zealand's Department of Conservation examined the site and concluded it is a natural outcrop of ignimbrite, a rock formed from volcanic ash, which cracks along straight lines into block-like shapes. There is no archaeological evidence of human work at the site.
- When
- Claimed in 1996
- Where
- Kaimanawa Forest Park, near Taupō, New Zealand
- Witnesses
- A visitor, writers and geologists
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.