New Zealand's oldest surviving maritime structures may have been identified by researchers who have taken a much closer look at the first printed image of the country.

A high-resolution image of the drawing of a Maori canoe, done by Abel Tasman's artist in December 1642, has revealed new information about Maori occupation in Golden Bay.

Canterbury University maritime history student Rosanne Hawarden and Wellington researcher Rudiger Mack said they had been able to use the image to identify beach landing sites.

The image, first published in the Netherlands in 1705, shows Maori warriors in a canoe, one of a number that circled Tasman's ship after it anchored in Golden Bay. Tasman called it Murderers Bay because four of his crew were killed when their rowing boat was rammed by a canoe.

When Mack had the image enlarged he found surprising new detail. Canoes near the shore were so tiny they were all but invisible to the naked eye.

Armed with the magnified images, Hawarden and Mack made several trips to Golden Bay and were able to identify two beaches - near the historic pa site at Taupo Pt in Abel Tasman National Park, and Takapou, in Wainui Bay.

Drawings of Taupo Pt done by surveyor John Barnicoat in 1844 showed canoes on the same rocky beach. They also show where large boulders had been moved so canoes could be hauled ashore.

Hawarden said the landing site had been ignored in archaeological surveys, and the pa site had not been radiocarbon dated.

"If the landing site was in existence before the Dutch arrival, it would be the oldest existing maritime structure in New Zealand and a site of national importance," she said.

She and Mack interviewed local iwi, Maori scholars and former landowners and searched photographic archives. All the evidence showed that the rows of cleared boulders had changed very little in living memory.

Mack will be doing a presentation on the canoe landing site at the Museum of Wellington City & Sea at 7.30pm on February 25.

An a high resolution copy of the images can be ordered through the National Library.