STRANGE FIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 122, 25 May 1935, Page 6

STRANGE FIND.

OLD MAORI QUARRY ?

DISCOVERY AT COROMANDEL CARVING OF ANCIENT AXES.

The chance discovery lias been made at Papa Aroha,. on .the crest of the Coroinandel Range, about nine miles from Coromaudel, of what is believed to be an old Maori quarry, from where, in earlier timed, excavations were made in solid ryolite rock to' fashion stone axes and other native Implements'. The quarry is abttit an acre in extent, and is the largest, of ite kind so far found in New Zealand, The find was niade, quite by chance, by Mr. C. A. McCall, there being a dense bush in the - locality. He thought at first that lie had discovered traces of ancient Maori rock writings, but further investigation showed that it was a quarry site on a big scale. Specimene of the rock were taken, and sent to the Auckland War Memorial Museum: Mr. McCall said that the quarry would be hard to find, but careful bearings vfere taken, and it is probable that at the first opportunity the find will be investigated by officials'of the museum. Much of the country of the Coromandel Ranges is very rugged, and the uplands are steeply scarred .with deep ravines. Add to that the country is clad in thick bush. Altogether it is territory in which it i« by no means hard to got lost, as more than one surveyor or pig hunter lias found. These reasons perhaps explain why the quarry has remained mi rediscovered for so long. The quarry was not known to him or, as far as ho knew, to hie people, eaid Tukumana Te Taniwha, an elder of the, Ngati-Potukirikiri tribe, which lives in that district, this morning. He is 73 years old, and he said that he had heard no account of it from his ancestors. Mr. James Kukutai said that though Tukumana had not heard of it, it was quite possible that the quarry had been made and used by the Maoris. He had not heard of it himself, but it might have been lost sight of for many, many years. It wae hardly possible to say how long it was since a quarry of that nature might have been used. He would have to know more about it before being able to give a definite judgment.