Colyers Island: Polynesia's southernmost adze manufacturing complex

Abstract

Bluff Harbour, in southern New Zealand (Murihiku), is the southernmost location of Polynesian adze production. Here, an industry developed during the colonisation phase based on the exploitation of numerous sources of argillite - a fine-grained, homogeneous rock with conchoidal fracture properties. Argillite from the Bluff and Riverton sources was a major attractor during the earliest period of human occupation and Bluff argillite adzes were distributed widely throughout the lower South Island. The most extensive sources of Bluff argillite are on Colyers Island, where there is evidence of quarrying and preform production along much of the coast. The sites on Colyers Island were surveyed as the first part of an archaeological investigation of quarrying and adze production in Bluff Harbour. The quarried boulders, outcrops and artefact distributions at these sites indicated that the raw material was exploited by highly organised and skilled craft specialists. The initial stages of adze manufacture were undertaken at the quarry, and then preforms were taken to multipurpose camp sites around the harbour for finishing. Adze blanks on Colyers Island were made from large flakes, tabular blocks and cobbles, using imported hammer stones. This paper documents the significance of Colyers Island as an important adze production complex in New Zealand.