Measure Them Adzes

Archaeology in New Zealand, 1994

We report our attempts to experimentally replicate 25 fine-grained basalt Hawaiian quadrangular adzes using freehand percussion. We document the techniques, stages and distinctive debitage resulting from each stage of the reduction process. While the later experimental adzes in our series reproduced the Hawaiian quadrangular adze with accuracy, we were unable to achieve the level of finesse seen in some finished archaeological specimens. Our experiments, and the gap between our own results and the finest examples seen in some archaeological collections, indicates the very high levels of skill needed to make the most refined Hawaiian adzes, and supports the notion that some adze makers were undoubtedly specialists. Our experimental work complements another study of archaeological adzes that examines the technological strategies and the cumulative addition of morphological elements to adzes during manufacture. We hope this study will serve as a useful benchmark for objectively and systematically comparing quadrangular adze technology across Hawai‘i and throughout Polynesia, leading to a better understanding of regional and temporal variation in adze technology.

New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 1980

Analysisofstone material from a quarryingsite and adze worlcingfloornearRiverton, Foveaux Strait (Site S 176/I) required new methods ofclassification sensitive to unfinished and rejected adze preforms and new approaches to the waste llakes derived from ditrerent stages of adze production and core preparation. A variety ofArchaic adze types were made at this site ioclud 109 large quadrangular-sectioned. triangular and reverse triangular, side-hafted adzes and many smaD trapezoidal and lenticular-sectioned adzes made from flakes. Adze making pro ures were to some extent "formalised" and show regularities in order of llaking of butt and bevel. in orientation offtake blanks. and in bevel production. At the same time the artisans loOk advantage of Shortcuts otrered by the natural attributes of certain blocks. and reused broken preforms and fortuitously shaped waste llakes. "Jig-saw" reconstructions showed that secondary flakes derived from the trimming of adze faces all possessed scars on their dorsal surfaces left by the reduction of overhanging platform edges with special hammers. Analysis of food refuse indicated thattbe site was a specialist camp wbose ocaapants lived OD nearby coastal and forest resources while engaged in adze manufacture.

Unpublished M.A thesis, 2018

Over the course of around five centuries, pre-European New Zealand society underwent a considerable amount of change in a relatively short period of time. From initial colonisation somewhere around 1200 A.D. to the arrival of Captain Cook in 1769, it is argued that the country witnessed increasing conflict and competition for resources, changes in subsistence and settlement patterns, changes in material culture (i.e. adzes and fishhooks), and shifts and contractions in communication networks. These changes are typically signalled by the extinction of Moa and the decline of large game hunting, increased population and the appearance of fortified Pa, and changes in agricultural practices. It has been argued that changes in adze manufacture and technology occurred amidst these other, far reaching changes in subsistence and settlement patterns. While there is a general model of change within New Zealand, relatively little is still known about most regional rates of change. The aim of this research is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of stone adzes from around the Auckland (Tamaki) region in the context of the wider New Zealand model of change which has developed over some years and presented in published literature. This analysis was completed using an assemblage of 144 artefacts from eleven different sites with good context and dating information from the Auckland region. The assemblage was divided into four temporal periods spanning the pre-European Maori sequence based on radiocarbon dates. The analysis was completed in three parts; a size and morphology analysis, a typological analysis using the formal Duff/Skinner adze typology, and Turner’s (2000) Use-Life State typology, and a geochemical source analysis. While superficially the results of this analysis may fit the existing model of change in New Zealand, the timing and rates and of change within this general trend are far more variable than the model might suggest.

New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 1979

Sixty-four new records of the sidt>-bafted adze in New Zealand, not previously recorded in fonnal publication, are presented. The additional records for the North Island (31) are particularly important in view of the very few specimens fonnerty known. All recorded specimens are listed. The side-hafted adze bas a remarkable coastal distribution, reflecting the nature of Archaic period settlement and probable association with canoe-building. Five main rock types were used in manufacture of the adzes but only two, Nelson-D'U"ille Island metasomatised argillite and Tabanga Basalt, are common. The adze type is shown to have been present from the I Ith to 16th centuries. • The typology, use and antiquity of this specialised artefact are discussed.

Archaeology in Oceania, 2019

This study examines evidence for change in adze form and raw materials in the Auckland (Tamaki) region using a sample of 144 adzes from 11 securely dated assemblages spanning the pre-European Maori sequence. Non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence geochemical analyses indicate that the assemblages were dominated by two stone sources throughout the sequence; locally available Motutapu greywacke, and Tahanga basalt from the Coromandel Peninsula some 100 km distant. Additional analyses, incorporating adze form and use-life data, indicate that both materials were used in a similar manner. The results of this study suggest that, although patterns of change argued for in existing models of New Zealand's prehistory provide a broad overview of general trends, targeted studies also are required to identify regional variation. R ´ ESUMÉESUM´ESUMÉ Cet article porte sur l'analyse d'unéchantillonun´unéchantillon de 144 herminettes, venant de 11 assemblages datés avec certitude et couvrant la période Maori pré-Européenne, afin de déterminer un potentiel changement de formes des herminettes et dematì erespremì eres utilisées dans la région d'Auckland (Tamaki). Les analyses géochimiques non-destructives (spectrométrie portative par fluorescence X) indiquent que les matériaux utilisés durant cette période proviennent principalement de deux sources: la grauwacke de l'ˆ ıle de Motutapu, situéè a proximité immédiate dans le golfe de Hauraki, et le basalte de lacarrì ere de Tahanga (Péninsule de Coromandel), distante de 100 km. Les analyses complémentaires intégrant des données morphologiques, technologiques et fonctionnelles des herminettes indiquent que lesmatì eres premì eres de ces deux sourcesétaientsources´sourcesétaient utilisées demanì ere similaire. Bien que les changements identifiés dans les modèles actuels concernant la préhistoire néo-zélandaise donnent un large aperçu des tendances générales, les résultats présentés suggèrent que desétudes des´desétudes ciblées sont aussi nécessairesnécessaires`nécessairesà l'identification des variations régionales. Mots-clés: Herminettes en pierre, modèle de changement néo-zélandais, Auckland (Tamaki), Nouvelle-Zélande pré-Européenne, changement au fil du temps, caractérisation géochimique

Experiments and Interpretations of Traditional Technologies: Essays in Honor of Errett Callahan, 2010

Stone adzes were common in the tool kits and burial caches of ancient Polynesians. Though they appear in many forms this paper deals with the late stage of manufacture of Type 1 rectangular cross section adzes of the Moa-hunter period (1,000-1,400 CE) of the Maori culture in New Zealand. The technique used in the manufacture of the final stages of these ancient adzes has not been described in the literature to date. The hypothesis of this paper is that the lateral edges of these adzes, that meet to form 90 or square edges, were formed by the indirect percussion technique using punches of stone and possibly wood or other materials. Indirect percussion is a stone tool knapping technique that employs an intermediate tool, a punch, between the hammerstone or billet percussion instrument and the object being worked. It is used in a similar manner to a sculptor's chisel. Evidence for this hypothesis is based on the examination of artifacts contained in museum collections in New Zealand, and the results of experimental work done to replicate the artifacts.

Stone adzes are found throughout the Pacific islands and documenting their diversity is critical to understanding relationships between past human populations. The adze typology devised by Roger Duff half a century ago is the standard across New Zealand and the rest of Polynesia. Here we describe the different types in the Duff system and analyse 148 adzes from the Wairau Bar site, which has a high diversity of complete adzes and is the assemblage that Duff used as the basis of his system. We use Principal Components Analysis of morphometric variables to test the empirical basis of the Duff system — an analytical exercise that should have applicability to typological systems elsewhere. Our results show different Duff types clustering separately to an extent, but there are issues of ambiguity in assigning types. Duff emphasized cross-section shape and the elaboration of the tang. We propose a new classification system that emphasizes technological and functional features of the adzes. There is considerable agreement between Duff's system and ours, as different manufacturing methods create different cross-section shapes, and functional modifications are often related to the adze tang. We describe four main manufacturing methods with functional elaborations, resulting in nine different adze types that are represented by at least 3 specimens each at Wairau Bar. Examples of each of these adze types are illustrated. We also note the presence of 'stitched' edges on some adzes likely resulting from fine punch work. The Wairau Bar adzes are some of the finest examples of knapping skill known anywhere in the world and suggest a high level of craft specialization.

Archaeology in Oceania, 2023

Adze quarries and sources are some of the most visible, unique and well-preserved Polynesian archaeological sites where stone technology, intensification of production, other aspects of economy, social organisation and ritual practices are anchored together on the landscape. The production and exchange of adzes are associated with complex interaction networks connecting islands and archipelagos up to 4000 km distant making adzes amongst the most widely transferred tools in the Neolithic world. Our review of Polynesian adze quarries and sources demonstrates that site descriptions are uneven hampering regional comparisons based on size, production output and internal complexity. We therefore provide suggestions for future research with the overall goal of making comparisons between these sites more meaningful. We believe it is an exciting time to be studying one of the most important site classes in archaeology not just to know how stone adzes were made, but what we can also learn about the development and variability of complex societies across Polynesia.

Archaeology in Oceania

ABSTRACTTypological and geochemical analyses of stone adzes and other stone tools have played a significant role in identifying directionality of colonisation movements in early migratory events in the Western Pacific. In later phases of Polynesian prehistory, stone adzes are important status goods which show substantial spatial and temporal variation. However, there is a debate when standardisation of form and manufacture appeared, whether it can be seen in earliest populations colonising the Pacific or whether it is a later development. We present in this paper a stone adze and obsidian tool assemblage from an early Ancestral Polynesian Society Talasiu site on Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga. The site shows a wide variety of adze types; however, if raw material origin is taken into account, emerging standardisation in adze form might be detected. We also show that Tongatapu was strongly connected in a network of interaction to islands to the North, particularly Samoa, suggesting that ...