Whangārei couple discover human remains at Far North beach

Kororāreka Marae representatives Maxine Tipene, kuia Joyce Baker, kaumātua Arapeta Hamilton and Patu Sigley and others at the site where human remains were found. Photo / Supplied

A Whangārei couple holidaying in the Far North made a shocking discovery when they unearthed a nearly intact human skeleton.

Ben Smith and his wife made the unusual find at Long Beach in Russell on Saturday, uncovering around 20 bones before phoning police who contacted Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and Kororāreka Marae.

The skeleton has been confirmed as kōiwi (human remains) dating to before the 1830s and is not of concern to police.

Smith said he was sitting on the sandy bank at the northern end of the beach following a swim last Saturday.

"I was digging my feet in the sand and felt a few bones. I dug a bit more and more bones started coming out.

"We weren't sure what it was to start with. My wife is a physio and she said there was definitely a femur. We dug out most of the arm and leg bones and exposed part of the pelvis and some of the ribs. Then we decided to stop there and get the police involved."

Smith contacted police who told the pair to cover the bones until an archaeologist could identify them.

The area was cordoned off and on Monday Heritage New Zealand staff excavated the koiwi under the cultural guidance of Kororāreka Marae kaumātua Arapeta Hamilton.

Heritage NZ Northland archaeologist Dr James Robinson, who attended the uplifting, said the bones were from a woman possibly in her 20s who died of natural causes.

The body was a "crouch burial" which indicates that the human remains pre-date the arrival of Christianity in Aotearoa-New Zealand, he said.

In the case of Kororāreka-Russell, this would date the body to before the 1830s.

A near intact human skeleton was unearthed at Long Beach in Russell recently. Photo / File

Robinson said finding kōiwi is an "ongoing issue especially because of coastal erosion."

"We encourage people to, if they find what appear to be bones, to contact police and local marae or Heritage NZ.

"Then leave it until it can be confirmed. In many cases it's going to be animal bones, but sometimes they're human ... there's a process in place for dealing with that."

A Kororāreka Marae spokesman, David McKenzie, said the bones would be held by Russell Museum on behalf of the marae.

There will be a hui held at the end of the month to decide which urupā (cemetery) it will be reburied at.

Russell Senior Constable Mike Gorrie thanked the Smiths for "doing the right thing" by leaving the bones where they were, photographing them and contacting police.