OLD MAORI RELICS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23545, 4 January 1940, Page 8

OLD MAORI RELICS

WORKSHOP UNCOVERED | VARIETY OF IMPLEMENTS DISCOVERY.IN SAND DUNES | [BY TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT - ) I KAITAIA, Wednesday While exploring in the sand dunes on | the west coast between the Hokianga Harbour and Whangape Heads, Sir. | E. T. Frost discovered an old Maori - I workshop recently uncovered bv the i wind. Attention was drawn to the spot [? •by a number of specially hard boulders, wnich evidently had been nsed as . | anvil blocks on which implements were |; fashioned in the rough before being j : polishea. • Napping hammers wero found lying -/•$ among the larger boulders and masy -a flakes of stone (split off in the process | of axe-making) were also lying about. Greenstone implements had evidently been fashioned on the spot, as fairly £ large pieces of this stone were picked up. Obsidian flakes and drill points j: were numerous and an obsidian haircutting implement was . also tound | among the debris . Various curios found included stone | axes in the rough, drill points, the . shank of what was apparently a stor.o fish hook, a verv small highly-polished .j ciiisel, napping hammers, some good samples of grinding stones, aud a small g greenstone chisel. |j Evidently the locality was the sup of a busy \vorkshop of the old Maon fc-j stone artisan. Although no bones , ot the moa wore found in this area, it 18 @ apparent that at, some time or other | the moa frequented the locality, as a | group of crop stones was found. ISo | doubt the moving sand would very 1 quickly cover any bones that would be r- : lying about. .j§