The duration and mode of occupation of pre‐European Māori living in northern New Zealand was influenced by their subsistence strategies. Our analysis of the surface archaeological remains on Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island, Coromandel) examines how communities practiced horticulture and interacted with their local ecological and social environments through mobility, storage and competition. Focusing on a 300 ha study area in the northern quarter of the island, we use a multi‐scalar land‐unit (LU) approach to categorize the landscape as a continuously varying phenomenon with multiple characteristics. Our results suggest that the largest concentrations of horticultural features were located in areas with high sunlight exposure (insolation), good soils, low slopes and stream access. This patterning indicates that specific areas were probably being targeted for horticultural production, although differential feature preservation and visibility must also be considered. The spatial organisation of storage pits, residential features and fortified locations suggests year‐round occupation of the island, not just summer planting. The heterogeneous characteristics of the landscape influenced the settlement of three particular zones on the island. We suggest that the economic defensibility of these areas would have facilitated territoriality within a socio‐historical context of population fluidity and mobility.

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