MAORI CURIOS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 241, 12 May 1933, Page 7

MAORI CURIOS

j Valuable Finds in Thames | District Press Association. —Copyright Waihi, May 10. j Finds of rare and valuable Maori I i curios continue to be made bv the party ! excavating on Mr. K. Collins' property | jat Matatoki, near Thames, under ..the j i direction of Mr. S. M. Hovel!, of Waihi, ! | and Mr. R. W. Bell, of Mercury Bay. \ I Although the party was richly rewarded j | for its work not long ago on Mr. E. j ! Thornton's holding at Thornton's Bay, i j also near Thames, the Matatoki discover- j • ie.s exceed the results there in both num- j j ber. interest and rarity. The excavations last week-end reveal- ! I ed an artifact of more than ordinary in- j ; terest, a stone spool of the: kind believed i ! by the late Mr. Elsdon Best to have been j j worn by tohungas as a charm, but really I ief unknown use. Beautifully carved of j black stone, it has four ridges, each oi j j which has 43 notches, a fact which is ' j believed to have some significance, while j j between each ridge are inlaid, one on ; eh hi r side of the artifact, pawa she)! | ; "eyes. ' Through llie centre of the spool j : is drilled a hole. The artifact is the j j second of its type to bo found in the | i diggings, but the other was much small- 1 ! or and had but three notched ridges. ; There is no record oi a find wilh foui ! i ridges having be« n made previously. j j Also included in the week-end Had ; • was a greenstone pakapeka, or charm, < j which, to the laymen, would appear to ! ! be a decapitated tiki. If is of iighi green j ; and is exquisitely carved and polished, i i An unusual feature is that it has four j ! holes drilled across the lop. Among j ■ otlier recent discoveries are greenstone j I pendanis, chisels and adv.es, and numer- j i ous fishhook barbs and needles.