![]() The average form of adze has a blade formed by two bevels, on face and back, the latter being the principal one. On the east coast the term poike is usually applied to the butt end of a stone adze or axe, and is there held to be a more suitable term for it than reke. ![]() The poll ( reke) is rarely flat, but is usually rounded off both ways, though not conical. The thickness of the adze usually diminishes toward the butt end, the thickest part being at the shoulder, or in some cases the tool preserves a uniform thickness from the shoulder back to the middle, or further, here it diminishes in size. Thus, in some cases the back is straight in its middle part, but the appearance of uniform convexity is given to it by the tapering shape of the two ends. In some it extends the whole length of the tool, but in others the apparently persistent convexity is caused by the longitudinally convex bevel to form a cutting-edge at the one end, and a tapering-off of the butt end at the other. There are two types of convexity seen on the backs of these adzes. The usual form of the back is also convex in the majority of specimens, but the straight form of back is not rare, and some have the back concave longitudinally. The face of the tool is convex longitudinally, and in many cases transversely also. The transverse convexity of the face-and, in many cases, of the back also-naturally tends to impair the rectangular appearance of the implement, and to impart a rounded aspect to its longitudinal edges. The longitudinal edges are rarely sharply defined and rectangular, but are somewhat rounded, a form probably caused in some cases by the implement being rubbed in a more or less deep groove in a block of sandstone when being ground. The sides are convex transversely and longitudinally. A straight cutting-edge is more frequently seen in small adze-shaped tools, many of which were used as chisels, and hafted as such, than in the larger forms. Specimens in which the widest part is across the shoulder are rarer than the above. In forms possessing a curved or segmental cutting-edge, such a curve has, of course, the effect of making the chord of such arc the widest part of the tool. The sides taper off gradually from the cutting-edge backward to the poll thus the tool is widest across the cutting-edge. The most common form of Maori stone adze, the type most frequently met with, may be described as follows:.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |