71: Chevroned Pendants
Anyone else wonder why chevroned pendants only appear in NZ and only in locations regarded as ancient in occupation times. Has anyone else wondered why these designs are not found elsewhere in Polynesia...or Melanesia for that matter? Maybe with the exception of some close angular patterns on one or two old Society islands pieces.
We maintain it is likely that the styles that are commonly assumed were temporary styles once Polynesians arrived here, are actually styles that they found already here from a race or races isolated for many hundreds of years before Polynesians arrived. Of course we can't prove that yet, not until we have the skeletons dated, but if they prove to be from before 900AD, then many questions have to be asked.
Here are some of the examples that are in museums and private collections that are not found anywhere else in the world bu NZ. Not even elsewhere in the Pacific. Not even from Raitaia, or the Marquesas Islands, Rarotonga, or other places Maori were supposed to have come from - and when you ponder on that for a while, some questions may form in your mind.
While experts maintain these were made around 1300-1500 (yet no better examples occur after this), what may occur is that these few examples are part of a most fantastic culture from a small group of real Tangata Whenua that once existed here long before Polynesians or Melanesian arrived. (And by the way, the Melanesians arrived before the Polynesians. You will see the evidence of their being in the distinct differences between certain individuals in different parts of the country in the old black and white photos of Maori around the time of early European occupation.)
What is also strong in some of these items are the rows of notching, common in very 'archaic' areas such as the Far North, Taranaki and Marlborough and one example is below...
