Rāhui lifted after human remains from urupā collected from a Maketū beach

Unearthed human remains were found scattered on Newdicks Beach in Maketū. A rāhui there has now been lifted. Photo / File

A rāhui put in place after human remains were washed on to the beach and into the ocean in Maketū has been lifted.

A large landslide on January 8 or 9 on the eastern side of Ōkurei Point unearthed the human remains from an urupā which began washing up on the Newdicks Beach.

Liam Tapsell, an elder from Ngāti Whakaue ki Maketū, said the rāhui (prohibition) on collecting kaimoana from the area was lifted on Tuesday. Human remains were scattered everywhere. Most ended up among the rocks or were washed out to sea, and it was possible the tide could still wash up more bones, he said.

Tapsell said so far more than three sacks of adult and children bones, including a child's small forearm bone, two skulls, and possibly also baby bones, had been collected.

The collected remains were being stored at Te Puke police station for safekeeping.

Tapsell said the last time any bones were found on Newdicks Beach was about two weeks ago, and that was why the decision was made not to extend the six-week rāhui.

"But it is very important if anyone does find more bones to immediately call the police and the police will then notify us," he said.

Tapsell urged people to treat any discovery of human remains with respect and sensitivity and store them carefully in a plastic bag or container until police could collect them.

Tapsell said no decision had been made about where the remains should be reburied and more discussions would be needed to find an appropriate place.

It was believed the remains are pre-1900 in origin. Ōkurei Point was the location of several Māori pā sites, he earlier said.

Tapsell said he was still in talks with Heritage New Zealand's Tauranga archaeologist Rachel Darmody about dating the bones, and he hoped funding could be made available.

"Being able to do so would be like putting faces to this mystery and possibly also give us an insight into how these people died," he said.