Nō te taenga o te Māori ki Aotearoa mai i Poronīhia ki te Rāwhiti i ngā tau 1250 ki 1300, ka kitea te whānui o ngā kōhatu pai mō te hanga whao, taonga, aha atu. Ka mōhio rātou i ngā kōhatu pērā i te ōnewa me te whaiapu; heoi, kāore rātou i mōhio ki ētahi atu kōhatu, pērā i te pounamu. Nō roto pea i te 50-100 tau ka kitea e rātou ngā kōhatu nui, ā, ka tū hoki ngā wāhi mō te auaha kōhatu. Taka rawa ki te rau tau 1300 e tauhokohoko ana te Māori i te pounamu me ngā toka pounamu ki ngā kokonga katoa o te motu.
Ko te toki me te whao ka whai hiranga. He mea whītiki te rau kōhatu ki te rākau hei kakau. Mō te whakairo me te tārei waka ēnei tūmomo toki. Ko te whao mō te whakairo.
I te tuatahi, he ōrite ngā toki ki ērā ka kitea ki ngā moutere o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa ki te rāwhiti. Kei ngā toki tōmua ngā reke kia pai ai te whiri i te kakau ki runga. Ko te tokomaha i auahatia i te ōnewa, i te toka mārō, pērā i te:
Ka pahure te wā ka whāiti iho ngā momo o te toki. Ki Te Ika-a-Māui, ka māmā ake te auahatanga, ka paku iho te reke. Ko te nuinga o ēnei toki i mahia mai te ōnewa, te karā, te pounamu, te pakohe. Ko te toki pounamu i kaha mahia ki Te Wai Pounamu.
Kitea ai te adzite me te pounamu ki Te Wai Pounamu anake, heoi, e kitea ana ngā momo toki nei puta noa i Aotearoa. He tohu tēnei ki te whānui o te mahi tūopu i ēnei taonga.
He mahi tohunga tonu te auaha toki. He mea wāwāhi ngā toka mā tētahi atu toka. Ko ngā kōhatu ka tohungia ka paoa ki te kuru kia maramara. Kātahi kua whakamahia anō ngā kuru hei whakamāheni i ngā taratara. E kīia nei tēnei mahi he ‘pecking’, he ‘bruising’ rānei. Oti rawa ake, ko te orooro i te toki ki runga i te kōhatu hōanga mākū – he roa tonu tēnei mahi.
Hei tā Te Whatahoro Jury, ka tahuna te ahi ki runga i te kōhatu, kia wehe mai tētahi wāhi o taua kōhatu. Kia whero te kōhatu i te wera, ka putua he wai ki runga i te toka. Nō konei kua pākarukaru te kōhatu i te kaha wera, ā, ka māmā ake te wāwāhi i te kōhatu. Ka whakamahia ngā kōhatu nei hei orooro, hei auaha toki.
Ko ngā whao i kaha whakamahia mō te tapahi me te waruwaru ko ngā matā tūhua me te whaiapu. E kitea ai te matā tūhua ki te taha whakararo o Te Ika-a-Māui anake, ā, kei te motu o Tūhua ngā putunga matua. I tauhokohokotia, tēnei momo matā puta noa i Aotearoa.
I kaha whakamahia te whaiapu ki ngā motu e rua; Ōtākou ka auahatia te silcrete (he hōanga mārō) me te porcelanite. E kitea nuitia ana te silcrete ki ngā wāhi whaiwhai moa. Arā atu anō ngā whao matā i auahatia mai te karā me te ōnewa. Kei Taranaki ngā pākuru mō te paopao. E whakaarotia ana o mō te patupatu kēkeno, ēnei whao.
Ko tā te wiri he wero kōhao ki te rākau, ki te kōhatu rānei. I ngā wā o mua, ka whakamahia tēnei mō te wero kōhao ki ngā matau hī ika. I auahatia ēnei taputapu i ngā tūmomo kōhatu, ki te whaiapu, te matā tūhua me ngā kōhatu hanga toki.
Mō te mahi matau, ka werohia he kōhao ki waenganui i tētahi kōiwi papatahi (he kōiwi moa i te nuinga o te wā). Kātahi ka oroorotia ki te hōanga. I ētahi wā ka whakamahia ki te schist, te rākau rānei kua kōhatungia. Ko ngā toka hōanga nunui ka whakamahia hei orooro, hei whakakoi kōhatu.
Ko ngā taonga i mauria mai e ngā kaiheke tōmua i Hawaiki he tautau, he tāhei me ētahi kahurangi. He maha ngā rautau ka mau haere tonu ngā taonga nei i te Māori, ka mutu, kei ngā wāhi whaipara o ngā tūpuna Māori e kitea ana ngā momo taonga o tērā wā e ōrite ana ki ērā nō te takiwā o Poronīhia ki te Rāwhiti. Nō te whanaketanga o te wairua auaha, ka hua ake ētahi atu auaha kahurangi, tae rawa ake ki ērā i mahia mai te pounamu.
Ko te tokomaha o ngā kōhatu whakairo tōmua o te Māori he takatakai he tautau hoki. He rite tonu te auahai te takatakai i te tangiwai. E kitea nuitia ana tēnei kōhatu parauri, kākāriki hoki ki te rohe o Whakatū. He ngāwari tēnei kōhatu ki te whakairo. I whakamaua anō ngā takatakai ki te kakī, ā, kei ngā wāhi whaipara tōmua ki ngā motu e rua e huraina ana ēnei taonga. He wā anō, kei te taha o ngā tūpāpaku ētahi e kitea ana.
I auahatia anō i te tangiwai ngā tautau ōrite ki te rei tohorā, me ētahi atu taonga whakanikoniko. Tērā tētahi tautau rei tohorā nō Murihiku, neke atu i te 20 henemita te roa, me te 2 koma mano te taumaha. Heoi, ko te nuinga o ēnei momo taonga he iti te hanga, ā, whakamaua ai ki te kakī. Arā anō ngā whakakai hanga kōnae i mau ki te uma. Ruarua ngā taonga pēnei, ā, kitea anake ki Te Wai Pounamu. Kua whakairotia he kāniwha ki ētahi. Kei runga i tētahi e mau ana te whakairo o ngā ika e rua.
Nō muri mai ka whakairotia ngā taonga pounamu, tērā pea nō muri i te tau 1500. Ko ngā taonga whai hiranga i tērā wā ā tae rawa ki te wā o te Pākehā, ko te hei tiki me te pōhoi taringa. Ka auahatia anō ngā toki pounamu iti me ngā whao hei tautau mā te wero i te kōhao ki tētahi taha kia uru atu ai he taura.
He whānui te tauhokohoko i te matā o Tūhua. Tata tonu i te katoa o ngā wāhi whaipara tangata ki Aotearoa, ki Rangitāhua me Wharekauri kua kapia e ngā kōhatu nei. I hokohokona anō te pounamu o Te Tai Poutini puta noa i Te Ika-a-Māui me Te Wai Pounamu.
I ngā rau tau 1600 me 1700 ka kaha whakairotia e te Māori te patu mai i te kōhatu. Ko te ōnewa me te tāhoata me te pounamu (mere pounamu) mō te hanga patu. Ko te āhua a nei whakamahia nuitia ēnei taonga ki te raki, ā, koinei ngā tūmomo taonga i huraina ki te pā o Ōruarangi kei te mānia o Hauraki. Tērā pea ko te patu mō te patu kekeno, patu moa ki Te Wai Pounamu pea te patu mō te patu kēkeno, moa hoki.
Ka hangaia ngā whakairo pounamu mā te tapahi me te orooro i te kōhatu. Ko ngā mira hei tapahi i te papa pounamu he hōanga, he ōnewa, he kōhatu schist rānei. Mā te kani ka haea ngā awaawa hōhonu e rua ki ia taha o te toka, kātahi ka whatiia. Ko te kiripaka hei auaha i te kōhatu.
He nui te mahi hī ika ki te ao Māori, ā, kei ētahi wāhi whaipara tangata kua tūhuratia te huhua o ngā matau kōhatu me ngā angaanga. Ko ā rātou maimoa ka tāpirihia he kōiwi, he angaanga rānei ki runga kia pai ai te hopu kahawai me te mangā. Auahatia ai ēnei taonga i te pakohe, te schist, te ōnewa rānei; heoi, kua kitea ētahi i hangaia mai i te pākohe me te tangiwai. Ko ā rātou māhē he kōhatu ka whakaawatia ka tākai ki te aho. He wā anō ka whakamahia ngā kōhatu nunui hei punga, ā, ko te tāhoata hei pōito kupenga.
He whānui te whakamahi o te Māori i te kōhatu ki roto i ā rātou mahi māra. Ka makaia atu e rātou ngā kirikiri ki raro i ā rātou māra kia pōkurukuru te one, hei pupuri hoki i te haukū me te mahana – he mahi nui tēnei mō te whakatō i ngā tipu pārū ki Aotearoa nei me tōna āhuarangi hātai. E karangatia ana tēnei momo one, ko te plaggen, ā, e kitea nuitia ana ki ngā tahataha o ngā awa o Waikato me Waipā. I konei ka karia te kirikiri mai te parehua tawhito o te awa, kātahi ka purupurua ki roto i te whenua 30 henemita te hōhonu. Ko te onemata i karia, ka whakahokia kia noho heipū ki runga.
Whakamahia anōtia ai ngā kōhatu hei rārangi, 1-2 mita te whānui, ā neke atu i te tekau mita te roa. He maha ngā momo rārangi kōhatu pēnei ka whakatakotohia. He rite tonu te kitea o ēnei māra ki te taha o ngā ahunga kōhatu, 1-2 mita te whānui.
Ko ētahi rārangi kōhatu ka tohu kei hea ngā paenga māra. He mea keri ētahi atu kōhatu mai i ngā putunga kō, i ngā papanga awa rānei, ka putu ki roto i ngā rua paku noa nei. He ōrite tēnei ki ngā one plaggen, arā, ka pupuri ngā kōhatu i te mahana, ā, ka whakamahana hoki ngā kōhatu i te one i runga. Ko ngā rārangi tonu pea he māra.
Ko tētahi tipu nui ko te harakeke. He mea patu te harakeke mā te patu muka. Ka auahatia ēnei patu muka i te ōnewa, te kōhatu puia rānei.
Arā anō ngā kōhatu ka taona mō te hāngī me te umu. He tūmomo kōhatu anō mō te mahi hāngī, i te mea ka pahū ētahi kōhatu ina tāhuna. Ko ngā kōhatu pai ka kohaina. Ko ngā kōhatu mai ngā puia ngā mea tika, heoi e whakamahia anōtia ai te ōnewa. Kei te Tai Tokerau ka whakataukītia ngā tūmomo kōhatu, ‘te kōwhatu tangi kai o Ruarangi’.
Ko ngā kōhatu nei hei koropupū anō i te wai. He mea tahuna ngā kōhatu ki te ahi, kātahi ka purua ki roto i ngā ipu wai.
Ka kōnatuhia te kōkōwai ki te autoru. Ko te puehu kōkōwai ka miria ki te kiri, ki ngā whakairo hoki. He mea pupuri te kōkōwai ki roto i ngā kōhua tāhoata. Kei te pania tonu te kōkōwai ki ngā whakairo.
Ka auahatia ngā pōtaka mai te ōnewa, te kōhatu puia, te rākau rānei. He mea kare ngā pōtaka mā te harakeke. Kua kitea ngā nguru ki te pā o Ōruarangi ki te pae o Hauraki kua mahia mai te hōanga, te hoata, me ngā pungarehu mārō mai ngā puia.
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Best, Elsdon. The stone implements of the Māori. Wellington: Te Papa Press, 2005 (originally published 1912).
Davidson, Janet. The prehistory of New Zealand. Auckland: Longman Paul, 1987.
McKinnon, Malcolm, ed. Bateman New Zealand historical atlas. Auckland: David Bateman, 1997.
Prickett, Nigel. Ngā tohu tawhito – early Māori ornaments. Auckland: David Bateman, 1999.
Wilson, John, ed. Fromthe beginning: the archaeology of the Māori. Auckland: Penguin, 1987.