THE OTAGO MUSEUM

Evening Star, Issue 21641, 9 February 1934, Page 14

THE OTAGO MUSEUM

NEW PIECES FROM LOCAL EXCAVATIONS C9OK ISLANDS COLLECTION AUGMENTED The many attractive collections in the Otago University Museum arc steadily being improved or augmented, and it is encouraging to learn that during the Christmas and New Year holidays the institution lias been visited by the largest crowds ever seen there at tliis period. That local collectors have not been idle during the summer is proved by the fact that a fairly wide variety of Maori exhibits have been brought in for display. One of the recent accessions cases is devoted to an interesting selection of material found by the archaeological branch of the Otago Institute in the course of excavations carried out during the holiday season at Murdering Beach. A noteworthy point which seems to be emerging from these investigations is the fact that the greenstone found locally is light in colour, and although often of fine appearance is of poor quality. Evidently it has been drawn from the regions at the head of Lake Wakatipu. The whole matter is now under consideration, but it seems probable that the oldest source of the Maoris was the Teremakau and Grey River districts, in Westland. Greenstone from that area is darker in colour and is of relatively high quality. The local greenstone regions appear to have been exploited in comparatively recent times; while this has not been finally demonstrated, there is accumulating evidence pointing in that direction. An adjacent case of material contains material from other sources in this district, the most interesting exhibit being, perhaps, a skull and two thigh bones from Little Papanni. The skull shows that at one time the owner received a hard blow on the head, but survived. One of the thigh hones shows sighs of a had fracture, which has been allowed to knit without the bones having been properly set, the result being that it is fully 2in shorter than it should be.

A valuable and conspicuous exhibit in one of the regular cases in the Maori Gallery is a huge moa bone fish hook—the biggest hook ever found in New Zealand. This interesting curio, which was found by Mr Teviotdale under Oft of debris at Little Papanni, was at first thought to have been kind of ornament, but it has now been concluded that it must have been used for some species of fish, the identity of which has not been definitely established. The fish hook adjacent to it in the case, discovered by Air John White, was previously the largest of its kind, but the latest acquisition is two inches longer. It is known that the moa hunters occupied the site where it was found, but unfortunately no final proof that they were the makers of it is available. However, the authorities believe that it is the work of those interesting Natives) The wonderful collection of huia feathers, presented by Air G. Rae, who found it in a box in a cleft among the rocks on the banks of the Alolyneux, lias now been placed in a conspicuous case, where the box’s contents are certain to be the object of much admiration. There is not another feather box in existence with all its authentic contents of Alaori times intact as in this instance.- It cannot be stated bow flic feathers found their way to the Alolyneux, but they were certainly put there before European times, and must have been something in the nature of an exchange gift. During the past, year the Cook Islands collection ' has ben greatly strengthened through the co-operation of Air Drury Low at Aitutaki. The collect! im. is undoubtedly the finest in existence, being especially strong in the section devoted to adzes, of which there is a wide variety of types. One pariicuhuiy fine piece in this department is a large seat about 10ft in length with a width of about, 3ft. Probably it was also used as a couch. The tree, from which it was fashioned by means of charring and the, application of adzes, must have been enormous, and it may be assumed that a great piece of work such as this was carried out for a chief. The collection is.conspicuous also for its comprehensive array of paddles, spear?, and clubs.