Monday 25 July 2011

New Zealand Maori stone adze is an amazing find

Archaeologist Pam Chester found an amazing Neolithic Maori stone adze during the excavation of the rugby club at Para-Plim in New Zealand.




Although it's not always possible to tell from a photograph, the ground blade of this adze exhibits the characteristic tell-tale longitudinal scars left behind by wood-working. Adze likes this were used for canoe-building, plank-making and general woodworking (structural timbers for Maori fortifications, houses and jettys etc).