THE MOA HUNTERS

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 102, 16 January 1923, Page 6

THE MOA HUNTERS

POLYNESIAN IN ORIGIN LECTURE BY PROFESSOR SKINNER The moas had reached their aemo during the pleistocene period, and it was a smaller bird which was exterminated by the Maoris, declared Professor Skinner in a lecture at the Science Conference, Maori records were largely fantastical and legendary in character, and authentic information was difficult to obtain. In various parts of New Zealand ancient camp excavations showed that there the moa was killed and eaten. The first inhabitants of New Zealand must have hunted the moa, and the implements found had invaluable bearing on the culture of the Maori of the day. Tlie prevailing view for more than a century was that the Maori who hunted the moa differed little from the Maori discovered by Captain Cook, and the oarlior contention that the culture of the moa hunters was puleolithio had been abandoned. The earliest inhabitants of New Zealand were said to bo the Maruiwi, who were black in colour, and inferior to the Maori in culture. Tho Morioris of tho Chatham Islands and the southern New Zealand Ngatiinanoe wore said to be descended from these early inhabitants. The lecturer tet out to prove that the moa hunters were of Polynesian and not of Melanesian origin. ' Polynena and Melanesia had many points in common, but there were,differences. The Polynesians were cultured and skilled in making weahous and in decoration. Their axes were of shell, and' their spears were tipped with obsidian. Amongst some only the bow and arrow were known. In Melanesia culture was less noticeable. In some islands fishhooks were unknown. The weapons differed from the Polynesian, and rhe bow was universal. By giving details of the finds i.i various moa bone excavations, the lecturer proved that tho objects all were of Polynesian culture. Moa Bone Point cave was excavated in 1872 under von Haast. Earth ovens and fire ploughs, of distinctly Polynesian origin, were found in strata approximately 2000 years old, and bone needles, and an adze, of Polynesian rectilinear type. The old deposit in tho cave held few shells, showing that the Maoris there subsisted chiefly on moas, while as much as five feet of shells was seen in the newer deposits. Remains of divornis robustus, ribs and bones other than leg bones (which were often brought long distances for the manufacture of fish-hooks) were found in this old deposit, showing that flesh was attached to the bones when brought into the cave, and that divornis robustus "was alive when New Zealand was inhabited by man. In Monks Cave, Sumner, opened in 1889, were some of the most interesting objects found in New Zealand. The floor showed five distinct layers. It was impossible to authoritatively place tho date of the objects because of unsystematic search. The carved dog found was of a recognised Polynesian breed. Tho most interesting discovery was the outrigger, the only example found in New Zealand, and the typo of attachment was unique. The Shag River site gave the richest store of objects of all. Several railway Gileks of moa bones were sent to Dunedin, but tho bone mills refused them and they were destroyed. Numerous knives, cleavers, and saws of quartzite, basalt, and greenstone were found. I’he moas were evidently driven from the warm downs into a triangle at the river mouth, and there killed. The accumulations of rib and other bones not used in making articles proved that the accumulations had once formed food for man. The stone used was from as far as AVestland and the North Island. Types of difference were to be noted in the fish-hooks nnd articles found there compared with other sites. Greenstone was rare, but stone fish-hooks were more plentiful, and, the workmanship of richer design, and this and the vast accumulation ol moa bones, more numerous than elsewhere, together with the fact that Maori traditions hdld no mention of a village there, would go to show that tho Shag A'alley was an older deposit than all others. The characteristics hero, where the greatest collection of moa bones was found, were distinctly Polynesian. The general conclusion drawn by the lecturer was that the moa hunters were of Polynesian origin, as they had bift no distinct traces of Melanesian culture or implements. Mr. Justice Chapman said that the first inhabitants were not likely to be great navigators, as their canoe veights were all smaller than those used by the Maoris. Dr. Buck expressed great pleasure iu hearing Mr. Skinner’s definite deductions of the Polynesian origin of the moa hunters.