Shaun P. Williams , Peter Meihana, Cyprien Bosserelle, Corey Hebberd, James Battersby, Rebecca Welsh, Jay Hepi, Ruby McKenzie Sheat

The northwest portion of Te Pokohiwi ō Kupe (the Wairau Bar) in the Marlborough Region is where one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s earliest archaeological heritage sites dating back to the early 1300’s is located. This paper describes a baseline study to map the effects of present-day and future sea-levels on archaeological heritage land at Te Pokohiwi ō Kupe. Results suggest that approximately 20% of the heritage land is susceptible to a 100-year storm wave inundation under present climate and sea-level conditions. With 1 m of SLR likely to be reached between the decades 2070–2130, approximately 75% of heritage land becomes compromised by a 100-year storm inundation event. These results imply that heritage land at Te Pokohiwi ō Kupe is already susceptible to inundation by significant storm waves, potential erosion and loss of archaeological sites, with these effects becoming more severe as sea level continues to rise over time.