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Scans have revealed what appear to be 33 graves beneath a Hastings highway.
The New Zealand Transport Agency began investigating following a tip-off from Maori seers about 18 months ago.
The seers, who say they can see the dead, spoke up after the area was tagged to become part of a new expressway.
Agency general manager Rob Bramley said radar scans showed soil disturbances similar to graves.
"Early indications are that these could be European-style burials from the second half of the 19th century, but we're keeping an open mind at this point," he told The Dominion Post.
Ngati Kahungunu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana last week described how the seers were able to detect the dead.
"They rise out of the ground and tell them they're there. (They) can see them just hanging there."
- NZPA
