Rusty pot with history.

This pot was in the buried village, near Tarawera. It was under the mud for many years then more recently unearthed along with other artefacts.
This village was buried in mud when Mount Tarawera split and erupted in 1886. Parts of the village were buried by roughly 2 metres of mud, other parts by nearer 20 m. 153 were killed. Quite a few survived at the edge where the mud was not so thick. Including 60 who were helped to and sheltered in Guide Sophia's hut, one of two huts to survive.
There had been a few signs - the lake level fluctuated a few times, and Guide Sophia thought she saw a (ghost) canoe across the lake. Possibly steam being released.

The tourist attraction was the pink and white terraces at each end of the lake Tarawera.
They now think they have located some of these old terraces deep in the enlarged lake.

http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/NZDisasters/MtTarawera.asp