Type 2 stone adze speckled marble green serpentine stone (Dolerite) in form with curved cutting edge, very smooth with no sign of flaking. Weight 575grams.
The most important tools for the early Maori were adzes (toki). These stone adze heads were lashed to a wooden handle and used in working wood, including canoe building. However this type is thought to have been used for cultivating/gardening as a garden hoe would be used. These early adzes had a well-defined butt/toe end which gave grip for lashing to a handle. The majority were made from basalt or other hard rock, such as adzite. This is a very tough, fine-grained metamorphic rock, also called baked argillite or greywacke, which is hard sandstone.
date: 1600
maximum dimension: 140mm
subject area: Maori, Social Sciences, Art, English & Languages
subject themes: History, Culture, Domestic, Technology
handling collection number: HC86 |