Untitled

Te Ao Hou, June 1960, Page 48

Two historic series of cave drawings by the oldtime Maori have been found at Rapanui and Mokau, North Taranaki, similar to a notable discovery at Tongaporutu, reported to the Polynesian Society in 1939. The drawings, though fairly crude are of considerable archaeological and ethnological interest and it is hoped to excavate one cave and take impressions for preservation in the Taranaki Museum of the more interesting inscriptions in the three caves. Human footprints with three, four, five and six toes dominate the inscriptions but the old-time artists have included representations of fish, a woman, what could be a hei-tiki, a canoe prow and a bird, with a few other figures of obscure reference. The six-toed foot-print recalls that Te Rauparaha was reputed to have six toes, while there is a history of children who have been born in the district with six toes.