Moncks Cave treasures

Press, 7 March 1987, Page 22

Moncks Cave treasures

When the final selection of material for Te Maori was made from the Canterbury Museum collections, there were on the list a number of taonga which it was decided not to send. The decisions were taken for a variety of reasons: some were only on loan to the museum, some were too fragile, and others were considered too rare and too precious to risk allowing them out of the country. Sydney Moko Mead, Professor of the Maori Department at Victoria University, summarises the situation in "Tu Tangata”: “The (Te Maori) exhibition does not have all our best pieces. There are some which are so valuable that no-one in his right mind would suggest they should go.” Among the Canterbury pieces not sent were two wooden carvings from Moncks Cave at Sumner — a canoe bailer and the small, three-dimensional figure of a dog, or kuri.

Moncks Cave was discovered by accident in 1889, during the construction of the Sumner Road. Gravel for the work was being

taken from an adjacent paddock belonging to Mr Monck — a heap of suitable material, the result of a landslide, lay at the foot of a cliff. The clearing of a considerable quantity of this rubble revealed the mouth of a cave — similar to that at Moa Bone Point, but smaller. It was found to contain evidence of very early Maori occupation, including a number of items, among them wooden carvings, perfectly preserved by having been sealed up in the cave for a long period — possibly centuries. There were enough, it was said by John Meeson in an address to the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury a few weeks later, to themselves form the nucleus of a small museum.

Many of these items found their way into Canterbury Museum, and in the Pacific Hall at present is a special display featuring the Moncks Cave collection. The canoe bailer and the kuri deserve special mention because of their unique nature. The bailer contrasts strongly with the much later, North Island bailer figured in an

Bailer carved from totara using stone tools, showing the unique style of handle.

earlier article in this series. Its most noticeable feature is the handle, which differs from that of all other known Maori bailers in that it is continued on to rejoin the side of the scoop. The scoop itself split at some stage and was mended by lashing flax through three pairs of holes. The carving on this bailer is most distinctively stone tool work. Examination shows clearly the difficulties the craftsman had in cutting across the grain of the tough totara from which it is made. To help overcome problems in hollowing out the deep bowl section, the wood has been burned, possibly with hot stones, the resulting char being pared away more easily. Traces of this burning still remain.

At some period the whole bailer has been coloured with ochre, or kokowai, but this has largely worn off and is mainly visible in the hollows and cracks.

The little wooden dog is the only known representation “in the round” of the Maori kuri. In form, this carving is rather similar to early South Island rock

drawings depicting the kuri, showing the rather long body, heavy forequarters, pointed face, and upturned tail. However, the kuri characteristically had erect, fox-like ears, while this little creature has a sort of top-knot. It tends to give the whole head something of the look of an Easter Island carving.

It is not clear whether the Moncks Cave dog was a toy or was of some greater significance. The tail is carved in such a manner that it could have served as a suspension loop and it may

have been worn as a pendant or amulet. J

It clearly related to the earliest period of Polynesian occupation of New Zealand, and because of its uniqueness it has even been suggested that it was brought to New Zealand by the earliest human arrivals. Several years ago, however, by using modern scientific techniques, it was established that this piece was definitely “made in New Zealand,” being carved from the wood of the kanuka, which still grows abundantly around Banks Peninsula.