WHERE THE MAORI TROD

Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1933, Page 8

WHERE THE MAORI TROD

RELICS IN CANTERBURY. IMPLEMENTS AND OVENS. A relic of ancient Maori occupation, in the form of a stone adze, was discovered on his property at Lincoln, Canterbury, by Mr. C. Munro Smith while he was engaged in grubbing a few days ago. The adze, which is about 3in. long, is made from a dark basaltic stone and is finely finished at the blade end, although the upper part, where in use it would be lashed to the haft, is only roughly chipped to shape. Ancient Maori ovens have at times been discovered on the same property, but this is the first time any Maori implement has been found there.

Though Canterbury was . never so thickly populated by Maoris as most parts of the North Island, and Maori relics are more commonly found in the north than here, numerous discoveries of stone adzes, Maori ovens and other remains have been made in the past. The most notable of these were at Moa Bone Point cave and Monck’s cave on the way to Sumner. Moa Bone Point cave was discovered in 1872, and though its chief fame comes from the unexpectedly large number of moa bones found in it, its discovery was equally important because of the Maori relics which were excavated at the same time.

The relics included adzes of basalt, fragments of polished stone implements, wooden fire-making apparatus, fish hooks, a bone needle, sandals of flax, pieces of a fishing net with a pumice stone float, a shell trumpet and a decorative wooden comb. The cave was excavated under the direction of Sir Julius von Haast, then in charge of the Canterbury Museum, and most of these relics are still in the Maori collection at the museum.