ORIGIN UNKNOWN
A BOW AND A PADDLE
ETHNOLOGICAL PUZZLES
Time aiul again objects keep turning up in New Zealand, which, whilst, roughly classified by the' non-expert as ancient Maori, reveal to'the ethnologist features which show how little is really known of the ancient' Maori. The modern Maori is' totally unable to explain some' of the objects which have been found and attributed to'his ancestors. Two examples of this are shown in recent additions to the Dominion Museum.'
One of these is a bow, the only bow over found in New Zealand. It was discovered at Mangapai in, the Auckland district. It is six feet in. length and very well preserved. Experts, judging by the method of stringing used, and by other features, see in it a bow similar to those used by the natives in Santa Cruz. T.he Maoris had no knowledge of the bow and arrow as a weapon, and it is a distinct pufczle to account for the finding of a bow like this in New' Zealand. However, there it is, now a treasured, if mysterious, exhibit in the Dominion Musoum,
The other neiv exhibit of interest is a six-foot paddle rotrieved from a swamp at Foxton. Age is written all over it. The striking feature of this paddle is the narrow blade—much narrower than the usual type of Maori paddle —and the continuation of the shaft as a ridge running half way down the blade. This ridge terminates in a knob, in a manner akin to that seen in paddles found in the Austral Islands. There is another similar paddle in the Dominion Museum. In each the butt end expands to one side, projecting towards the back of the Wade. But in the second paddle the ridgo running down- the blade fork's instead of terminating in a knob , like the recent acquisition. This forking' ridge is a feature of paddles made in the Solomon Islands. So here is another puzzle, for ethnologists. How have Austral Island and Solomon Island features come to bo incorporated in paddles found in New Zealand, and presumed to have been made and used by the old-time Maori? ' ' ~.'■■■
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19310620.2.136
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 144, 20 June 1931, Page 15
Word Count
355ORIGIN UNKNOWN Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 144, 20 June 1931, Page 15
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