Sidestep: Unusual Artifacts

These are taken at the Auckland Museum. I would bet there's heaps more stored away as elsewhere in the country. Maori didn't carve rocks but those here beforehand did. Maori carved wood and very well based on their roots in the Pacific. But in the Pacific good stone was rare so they couldn't carve stone very well. That is the argument of those who say that is why early stone carving was very crude. So was wood carving...how come stone carving didn't improve? All that changed was better and more decorative weapons. Anyway, without theorizing here are some interesting artefacts labelled as Maori, and not very common (which is odd if they are Maori)

Many are direct pacific influence yet are only dates about the year 1500. The second seems to have a definite Hawaiian influence. The little stone gods are old, they are similar to the South American potato god brought here by those from Rapanui - so they say.

I'm not going to draw too much comparison with other cultures designs etc, I just thought it was interesting. But I will say that no. 9 is not Maori-like at all. Anyone know what it looks like? No.8 almost looks like something from the north-west Pacific region (Alaska).

Keep in mind that an abundance of carving of fine detail (as seen in most Museums) was usually only produced from 1820 onward, only really taking off in volume and quality when European tools were introduced.

(Please excuse the sideways photos. I was looking for uniformity on the page. Feel free to copy and paste and rotate.)

The photo below is an old one from about 1955 but you can see a more current copyright colour one at (http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-wooden-waka-tupapaku-maori-bone-storage-box-northland-north-island-60238677.html) It is one artifact that you will not see on display at the Auckland Museum, but it is in storage there. It's description is a wooden waka tupapaku, (Maori bone storage box) from Northland, North Island, New Zealand, c1500.

"In the Northland region, bodies of senior people were exposed on a platform after death until the flesh had rotted away. The bones were then cleaned, painted with red ochre and placed in a box, a waka tupapaku, inside a cave. This small transitional example may have held the bones of a high-ranking child." From the Auckland Institute and Museum, New Zealand.

Why isn't it on display or would that raise too many questions because there is absolutely nothing Maori-like about it at all...at all!

Below left are real Maori coffins from the Auckland Museum collection. On the right is a photo of a collection of coffins also in the Auckland Musuem. They are from NZ, but not of Maori design. It keeps pointing to someone already being here before Maori arrived from their various locations. Either that or there was a modernist and rebellious carver at one time or another - a Hotere of his own generation.

Above photos taken from the book - 'The Maori - Vol 1 - Elsdon Best 1924

Below is another crude stone carving in a photo taken at the Taranaki Museum. I do not know if this artifact is still on display there or not. Can someone please confirm and let me know please.