Kauri gum is a fossilized resin detracted from kauri trees (Agathis australis), which is used for chewing or tattooing, and made into jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, before Māori and European settlers caused deforestation, causing several areas to revert to sand dunes, scrubs, and swamps. The ancient kauri fields continued to provide a source for the gum and the remaining forests.
Kauri gum formed when resin from a kauri trees leaked out through fractures or cracks in the bark, hardening with the exposure to air. Lumps commonly fell to the ground and became covered with soil and forest litter, eventually fossilising. Other lumps formed as branches forked or trees were damaged, which released the resin.
Read more about Kauri Gum: Uses, Appearance, Gumfields, Gum-diggers, Gum Merchants
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