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In Comparative Diagram 13.1 we see adzes which may or may not be correctly termed plano-lateral. The termed is borrowed from a paper referring to a particular adze form found associated with early Lapita at Nenumbo Village, Main Reef Islands and dated around 1100 B.C. The author further intimates that these adzes may come from the southeast Solomons. A plano-lateral adze is then a lenticular form with flat sides, the essential nature of the form is to produce a cutting edge which is curved transversely and longitudinally and we can see that in both of the examples shown in Diagram 13.1 this is the form of cutting edge. The mid-point cross sections are rather deceptive in this regard, however this cutting edge form is found in the early Society Islands, Marquesas, Nuiatoputapu as well as Sigatoka and Lau in Fiji. Thus it must be recognized as one of the links to a very early association between Eastern and Western Polynesia. Although there is very little proof at present, the fact that these adzes are present in Eastern Polynesia, may suggest that part of Eastern Polynesia may have been explored and remote isolated colonies established before 1000 B.C. The Samoan adze collection seems to be without this form although there is much to suggest that the very early Samoan artifacts have not been found.
If one was to grossly simplify the early adze assemblages, a quick review of the Birk's Fijian Lapita adzes shows a marked tendency to convex forms, with a sprinkling of quadrangular in the vain of Samoan Type I and or III. One of the curious puzzles in this issue is the presence in Eastern Polynesia of a reversed triangular adze, this form is not seen in the Fiji material but is perhaps found in Tonga and rarely in Samoa. If the issue of the early settlement of Eastern Polynesia is not resolved by the presence of lenticular or base flattened oval plano-convex adzes which are common to both East and West from an early period, then perhaps the reversed triangular and thick quadrangular adzes will better serve to pinpoint the source or early directions for the first migrations. Both of these forms are thought to be Eastern developments that appeared well after the initial settlement however perhaps these forms have not been researched thoroughly enough in the West.
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