The discovery of a carved wooden Maori lie.id has been made at excavations on the site of a new building that is being erected for the New Plymouth Savings Bank. The curio is in a good state of preservation. Mr Edwin, of Motunui, advai ces the theory that when a war party killed an important chief and took his head, and then found themselves unable to get it home, either because the journey was long, or because the enemy was overtaking them, a representation of the captured head would be carved in wood, so that the war party had something to show at home. From the tattooing on the carving copied from the original, the Maoris would be able to tell to whom the head had belonged. It is believed the head found was such a trophy.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19854, 15 February 1930, Page 5
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137Untitled Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19854, 15 February 1930, Page 5
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