Swamp kauri, sometimes marketed as "ancient kauri", are prehistoric kauri trees
(Agathis australis), buried and preserved in peat up to 50,000 years ago in New
Zealand's North Island.[1][2] Buried under a peat swamp by an unexplained act of
nature at the end of the last Ice Age, the trees have survived the centuries
underground, sealed in a chemically balanced environment that has preserved the
timber in perfect condition.[3]
The trees grew for nearly 2000 years before they were buried. Some have a girth of
around 40 feet, and a total height of nearly 200 feet