Blue-hued find in Palmerston North gravel pit item of national significance

Sunday, 28 February 2021

Cindy Lilburn from Palmerston North museum Te Manawa with part of an historic adze head found at a gravel yard near the Manawatu River in late 2020. (File Pic)

An intriguing find in a Palmerston North gravel pit may only be as big as the palm of a hand, but it’s a national treasure.

A contractor working at a Higgins quarry site on Tip Rd noticed an unusually coloured object, its deep blue standing out in the sea of lighter grey stones near the Manawatū River.

It turned out to be an adze head, made of argillite stone, and it’s in the safekeeping of Te Manawa as a taonga tūturu – an item of Māori cultural or historical importance.

Under the Protected Objects Act, such a find must go to the nearest museum, where it remains until a successful claim of ownership is made.

The adze head is in the safekeeping of Te Manawa, where it will remain unless a successful claim of ownership is made.

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Given it was found, late last year, near an old Rangitāne village, Maraetarata, the iwi could file such a claim. A representative from the iwi said it was aware of the find.

Te Manawa heritage collections manager Cindy Lilburn said the adze, or toki, would have been fixed to a wooden handle, which hadn’t been found. Such tools were used to shape wood.

It likely originated in the Nelson-Marlborough area and would have been traded up to Manawatū, and could date anywhere from the 1600s to 1830.

“By that point in time metal was becoming available.”

An argillite adze was relatively common, compared with the more expensive greenstone tools.

An adze was used in a plane-like motion, rather than the vertical swing of an axe, Lilburn said.

The adze would have been fashioned and then polished to give it a smooth appearance.

Unless a successful claim of ownership was made the adze would sit in “limbo”, unable to be displayed, Lilburn said.

It was up to successful claimants to decide what to do with objects when they left a museum.

Before a law change in the mid-2000s, such objects could be displayed while waiting for claims, under a law from the mid-1970s.

In the past 15 years about 12-15 adzes had come to Te Manawa. None had been claimed, although one moved to a museum in Wairarapa.

Te Manawa had also been presented with wooden objects, such as tools and a canoe paddle, and, since the original law was introduced, three waka.

“We are always grateful when people come forward. We do get a lot of people coming in with rocks and stones which they suspect might be something. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t.

“We always have to have a look, in case they are something,” Lilburn said.

A Ministry for Culture and Heritage spokesperson said officials had publicly notified the find and called for ownership claims.

“If a single claim for ownership is made, and if satisfied that the claim is valid, the ministry’s chief executive will apply to the Māori Land Court seeking an order determining ownership and custody.

“When multiple claims are lodged, the ministry works with claimants to find a suitable resolution wherever possible.”

The ministry has contacted parties who might have an interest in the item.

The deadline for claims is May 7. They will then be assessed by officials.