IJ
- Jan 12, 2017

82: The Nevis Artefact

Not too far away from Middlemarch, as shown in the post of 5th January, is a remote little valley called The Nevis. At that location some very interesting artifacts were discovered. One interests me intensely and if you have followed this site for a while you will know why.

I'm yet to find a photo of this item anywhere. In time I'm sure one will surface. It is called the Nevis scraper. The Nevis is an area in Central Otago where very early Moa Hunter sites were discovered. Most were destroyed by early gold mining...but not all.

This artefact is a three-limbed implement similar in shape to the tribrach implement from Okehu, Taranak which also has a flat bottom. It appears to be made from dark argillite which came from the Nelson district. I can say it is a very archaic artefact, from a very primitive people...like the ones we seek in the cave, as the Maori or Polynesian immigrant had no such type of implement anywhere in the Pacific. Why would they fashion something they had never seen before? They were hunter gatherer's, not artisans.

Having said that, no one knows for sure what it is, or why i was fashioned. It has been suggested it may be some sort of drill for boring wood. However, this was found at a Moa slaughter site. It seems odd that they would be drilling wood at such a site. A scraper of three sides would be unusual but maybe the shape held significance we know nothing about or was simply an accidental creation as the object was created?

Therefore it is more likely to be specialized form of scraper, provided with three hollows. It would be handy to scrap the flesh off a Moa bone, but no other such item has been found at any Moa hunter site, therefore it is not a common implement. The hand that made this piece seems so practiced that one would expect the type to be common. However, at present this example is unique and some say it's similarity to the Okehu three-limbed implement (pictured below) is accidental. What do you think?