I understand that some folks may be interested in the tools and weapons used by the first known people to settle in New Zealand. I am not an expert, so please treat what I have written below as a guide only
. I am honest but I may be mistaken or misled, and I have done relatively little research. So here is some stuff to get the ball rolling
maybe others can add more.
The Maori were a stone age people until other cultures arrived in sailing ships .but they were very good at using stone. I have seen tools, or heard of them, that have been made out of some sort of chert-like rock (flint maybe?), obsidian, greywacke, basalt, jade (or greenstone) and argillite. Although it is highly probable that sharp bits of rock formed by flaking were frequently used as cutting tools, it appears that many cutting edges were ground, rather than flaked, to get a sharp blade.
Most artifacts that I have come across have been made of argillite. I understand that argillite was used more frequently in older times: when jade became more widely used argillite would have probably been regarded as a bit inferior. Although polished argillite is something that can look very attractive, jade is rather stunning. And types of jade are evidently very tough indeed .and good at holding an edge. I recently spoke to a Maori carver who uses modern steel chisels .but he says that a greenstone chisel still does a fairly good job by comparison.
The New Zealand argillite Ive seen does flake like flint and obsidian, but from my experience it is a heck of a lot harder to work with than flint or obsidian. I doubt that you could pressure-flake it so hammer stones would be necessary. And the edge of a sharp argillite flake never seems to be as deadly sharp as obsidian or nice flint.
I have made arrowheads by flaking glass and flint (not marvellous ones, but functional). I have tried to flake argillite and have not had much success. But I have seen some adzes roughed out by the ancient Maori that were awesomely well made.
It appears that once the adzes were roughed out by flaking, they would often be finished by grinding and polishing. I assume that many of the adzes we find today were used for working wood. The Maori did some impressive carvings and they had to cut wood for their buildings and to make canoes. And naturally they would have needed tools to fell trees, shape spears, clubs and adze handles etc.
I have never come across evidence that the Maori used bows and arrows. When they arrived it is believed that there were no real native game mammals, so maybe there was no real pressure to develop bows. We had bats and marine mammals but that was it. But we had all sorts of birds, and some of these were flightless including the mighty moa - some of which stood over six feet tall. Spears and clubs must have sufficed for weapons. I know that some snaring was done.
Some bird spears had bone points.
Weapons for warfare might have been made out of stone or wood. Stone clubs would typically be fairly flat with a sharpish edge they would be ideal for cracking a skull or inflicting severe pain. I have seen flat stone clubs made of greywacke, greenstone and bone (whalebone I guess).
One type of spear Ive seen is a composite club and spear. The club end is flattened a bit to give quite a sharp edge .thus allowing all the energy of a blow to be concentrated over a very small area. These weapons, called taiaha, are used on ceremonial occasions nowadays. When I have seen some guys swing them around it makes me realize that it is almost a special martial art on its own.
Of major importance to Maori survival was the native flax plant, harakeke. This isnt a flax like the one used in making linen, but it can yield some very strong fibre. The leaves may be six feet long or more. It was used in clothing manufacture, making nets, ropes and snares, lashings for holding adze blades in place etc etc as you might imagine. The Maori were very accomplished at using fibre.
I tried to find some decent links showing some of these artifacts, but wasnt successful in finding a link I felt I could legally post. If you do a Google search for Maori Adze or taiaha you should see some images that give you an idea of what these things are like. I will see if I can find some good pictures eventually.
The Maori were a stone age people until other cultures arrived in sailing ships .but they were very good at using stone. I have seen tools, or heard of them, that have been made out of some sort of chert-like rock (flint maybe?), obsidian, greywacke, basalt, jade (or greenstone) and argillite. Although it is highly probable that sharp bits of rock formed by flaking were frequently used as cutting tools, it appears that many cutting edges were ground, rather than flaked, to get a sharp blade.
Most artifacts that I have come across have been made of argillite. I understand that argillite was used more frequently in older times: when jade became more widely used argillite would have probably been regarded as a bit inferior. Although polished argillite is something that can look very attractive, jade is rather stunning. And types of jade are evidently very tough indeed .and good at holding an edge. I recently spoke to a Maori carver who uses modern steel chisels .but he says that a greenstone chisel still does a fairly good job by comparison.
The New Zealand argillite Ive seen does flake like flint and obsidian, but from my experience it is a heck of a lot harder to work with than flint or obsidian. I doubt that you could pressure-flake it so hammer stones would be necessary. And the edge of a sharp argillite flake never seems to be as deadly sharp as obsidian or nice flint.
I have made arrowheads by flaking glass and flint (not marvellous ones, but functional). I have tried to flake argillite and have not had much success. But I have seen some adzes roughed out by the ancient Maori that were awesomely well made.
It appears that once the adzes were roughed out by flaking, they would often be finished by grinding and polishing. I assume that many of the adzes we find today were used for working wood. The Maori did some impressive carvings and they had to cut wood for their buildings and to make canoes. And naturally they would have needed tools to fell trees, shape spears, clubs and adze handles etc.
I have never come across evidence that the Maori used bows and arrows. When they arrived it is believed that there were no real native game mammals, so maybe there was no real pressure to develop bows. We had bats and marine mammals but that was it. But we had all sorts of birds, and some of these were flightless including the mighty moa - some of which stood over six feet tall. Spears and clubs must have sufficed for weapons. I know that some snaring was done.
Some bird spears had bone points.
Weapons for warfare might have been made out of stone or wood. Stone clubs would typically be fairly flat with a sharpish edge they would be ideal for cracking a skull or inflicting severe pain. I have seen flat stone clubs made of greywacke, greenstone and bone (whalebone I guess).
One type of spear Ive seen is a composite club and spear. The club end is flattened a bit to give quite a sharp edge .thus allowing all the energy of a blow to be concentrated over a very small area. These weapons, called taiaha, are used on ceremonial occasions nowadays. When I have seen some guys swing them around it makes me realize that it is almost a special martial art on its own.
Of major importance to Maori survival was the native flax plant, harakeke. This isnt a flax like the one used in making linen, but it can yield some very strong fibre. The leaves may be six feet long or more. It was used in clothing manufacture, making nets, ropes and snares, lashings for holding adze blades in place etc etc as you might imagine. The Maori were very accomplished at using fibre.
I tried to find some decent links showing some of these artifacts, but wasnt successful in finding a link I felt I could legally post. If you do a Google search for Maori Adze or taiaha you should see some images that give you an idea of what these things are like. I will see if I can find some good pictures eventually.
) Any online guides to these?