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TUBUAI ARTIFACTS Adze Type 3Fa 453-332-3Fa-1 This magnificent specimen was recovered from the TIIRUA Site (see Diagram 13.66 a) It had been brought to the surface by the recent ploughing and tilling, fortunately it escaped with only a few scratched and is otherwise in perfect order. It is a completely finished adze with some polished areas still light reflecting especially near the cutting edge on the bevel surface which may be from the implements' actual usage (wear polish) this is uncertain however as it may be that the final grinding of the cutting edge is latterly honed in such a way as to produce this sort of polished surface. Found in blackened sand it is a quite dark grey, but is anyway fairly uniform in colour, suggesting a reasonable amount of patination. The chronological position of this model is in one sense very clear, that being, that it is of a more recent production, however, exactly how the 3F and 3A forms evolve and their relative chronology has not been established. One of the most important diagnostic factors is the butt angle. This feature developed amongst the 3A and 4A adzes somewhat after the New Zealand settlements. New zealand adzes are relatively straight lined and the elaborate horned 4A and the thick 3A are missing from New Zealand collections. Some would probably place this period of angular butts as after the 'Fleet' migrations from Tahiti, however this issue is complicated by the presence of 3A adzes in Tahiti probably well before 1350 A.D. (Unless on arriving in New Zealand at that date the Tahitians discovered that the early settlers already established there, were in possession of superior tools. In which case they may abandon their own implements and implement styles?) We can anyway expect that the elaborate stylized 4A came into vogue around 1400 and was almost obsolete by 1800 being replaced by the 3A and 3F. In as much as the most perfectioned 3A and 3F adzes are straight lined and probably the most recent, one might assume that those with angular butts are the earlier models and that the level of their relative perfection may allow rough chronological sorting. Thus the above specimen then, falls into the late period for angular butts. This issue is complicated by the possibility that angled butts were applied off and on throughout the late sequence in response to a particular functional requirement. Thus we see in the adze 3Fc -1 (page 31 of the 170 Cat.) very similar lines in a highly perfectioned and possibly quite modern example. The next obvious diagnostic feature is a longitudinal concavity in ... |
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