Colyers Island: Polynesia's Southernmost Adze Manufacturing

Colyers Island: Polynesia’s Southernmost Adze Manufacturing Complex

Christopher Jennings, Marshall Weisler and Richard Walter

CJ, MW: University of Queensland, Australia; RW: University of Otago, New Zealand

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, 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 hammerstones. This paper documents the significance of Colyers Island as an important adze production complex in New Zealand.

This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/arco.5151.

Keywords: Polynesian Quarries, Adze Technology, New Zealand, Bluff Argillite

Résumé

Bluff Harbour, dans le sud de la Nouvelle-Zélande (Murihiku), est le plus méridional des sites de production d'herminettes polynésiennes. Une industrie basée sur l'exploitation de nombreuses sources d'argilite (une roche homogène à grains fins et à cassure conchoïdale) s'y est développée au cours de la période de colonisation. L'argilite provenant des sources situées à Bluff et à Riverton fut un facteur d'attractivité majeur pendant la première période d'occupation humaine et les herminettes en argilite de Bluff furent largement distribuées dans la partie sud de South Island. Les sources d'argilite de Bluff les plus importantes sont situées sur Colyers Island, où il existe des traces de l'exploitation de carrières et de la production de préformes le long d'une grande partie de la côte.

Les sites de Colyers Island ont été étudiés dans le cadre de la première phase de recherches archéologiques sur l'exploitation de carrières et la production d'herminettes à Bluff Harbour. La distribution des blocs de roche de carrière, des affleurements et des artefacts sur ces sites indiquaient que la matière première était exploitée par des spécialistes de l'artisanat extrêmement organisés et compétents. Les premières étapes de la fabrication des herminettes étaient effectuées dans la carrière, puis les préformes étaient transportées jusqu'à des camps polyvalents aux environs du port, où les finitions étaient apportées. Les ébauches d'herminettes de Colyers Island étaient fabriquées à partir de gros éclats, de blocs à structure tabulaire et de pavés à l'aide de percuteurs en pierre importés. Cet article rend compte de l'importance de Colyers Island en tant que complexe majeur dédié à la production d'herminettes en Nouvelle-Zélande.

Mots clés: Carrières de Polynésie, Technique de l'herminette, Nouvelle-Zélande, Argilite de Bluff

Introduction

Stone adzes are ubiquitous throughout Polynesia which highlights their significance to Polynesian societies. Quarrying various sources of raw material for adze production presented technical challenges in extraction and manufacture, yet morphologically similar adze forms distributed throughout Polynesia imply long-established and standardised technologies for producing specific forms. Quarries and adzes in Polynesia have been studied to investigate procurement, production, organisation, use, technology and specialisation (Best 1977; Clarkson et al. 2014, 2015; Cleghorn

1982, 1984; Leach 1993; McCoy 1977; Shipton et al. 2016; Weisler 2011; Weisler et al. 2013). The spatial distribution of basalt quarries and adzes has been used to study interaction and mobility across Polynesia (Allen 2014; McAlister et al. 2013; Rolett et al. 2015; Sheppard et al. 1997; Walter and Sheppard 2001; Weisler 1997; Weisler 1998; Weisler et al. 2016a; 2016b; Weisler & Walter

2017).

Originally from oceanic islands composed primarily of basalt, the Polynesian colonists arriving in

New Zealand encountered the unique continental geology of New Zealand and its diverse range of rock types. During the colonisation process they soon discovered the major sources of raw materials for adze production (Walter et al. 2010, Walter et al. 2017). Morphological variations of existing

Polynesian adze forms were developed as the colonists adapted their technology to master new raw materials during the New Zealand Archaic Period (~1300-1500 AD) (Golson 1959).

Distributions of artefacts show that three major adze sources were exploited during the Archaic period: (1) Tahanga basalt in Coromandel, (2) argillite from the Nelson-Marlborough region and (3)

Southland argillite (Figure 1). Tahanga basalt, in Coromandel, has perhaps the best understood system of lithic production (Turner & Bonica 1994). Large preforms were produced for transport at the Tahanga quarry and then finished at habitations on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Nelson-Marlborough argillite (known locally as ‘pakohe’) (Johnston 2011) is the most widely

distributed adze material throughout early New Zealand archaeological sites (Walter et al. 2010).

Numerous argillite quarries occur throughout the Nelson-Marlborough region and only a few have been systematically investigated (Jones 1984; Witter 1985). No region-wide synthesis for lithic production has been attempted for argillite and due to the large number of quarries and variation of raw material form (e.g., outcrops, loose cobbles), various extraction and reduction methods may have been used. Argillite adze blanks were transported long distances to habitation sites elsewhere in the South Island such as Kawatiri (Walter et al. 2011) and Wairau Bar (Figure 1) where they were then finished and, in the case of Wairau Bar, redistributed (Walter et al. 2017).

Along Foveaux Strait, one of the harshest environments in New Zealand, if not Polynesia, earliest human activity was driven by the acquisition of stone for adzes (Jacomb et al. 2010). The region was unlikely to have been permanently settled prior to European arrival (1770 in Foveaux Strait) but was visited intermittently as part of a resource network exploited by settlers residing along the Otago coast. The major sources of stone in the Foveaux Strait region were metasedimentary rocks occurring in the Bluff Harbour area and near Riverton (Figure 1). These rocks are collectively known as Southland argillite and were predominantly used to produce adzes at sites restricted to the mainland coast of Foveaux Strait (Jennings 2009).

The greater Bluff Harbour area is the southernmost region of Polynesian quarrying and adze production (Figure 2). Colyers Island, in the north of the harbour, exhibits the largest source of Bluff argillite and is the most extensively quarried. Although Colyers Island is recognised as one of the important locations driving mobility in Foveaux Strait (Jacomb et al. 2010), very little is known about the nature and timing of island occupation and how quarrying and adze production were organised.

The greater Bluff Harbour area exhibits numerous argillite sources and working areas, and while most were likely part of a contemporaneous adze industry, the specific activities and chronology at each site are unknown.

Raw material on Colyers Island occurs as small cobbles and ventifacts (rocks distinctively shaped by wind-borne particle abrasion), large boulders and dykes with eroding tabular pieces. These raw material forms are similar to those found at other Polynesian quarries (Leach & Witter 1990; Rolett et al. 2015; Weisler 2011; Weisler et al. 2013). No middens, ovens or structural features have been identified on Colyers Island, and the spatial extent of the island’s largest and densest adze production area is unknown. The Colyers Island stone working sites are well preserved and have the potential to contribute significant information on technological adaptation, the organisation of resource acquisition, and regional lithic production systems during the Archaic period. Prior archaeological research is limited to a survey (Bristow et al. 1985) and periodic monitoring of the shoreline archaeological sites around the island (Jacomb & Walter 2005). Colyers Island is a major adze production centre that anchored an extensive regional distribution network (Jacomb et al.

2010; Jennings 2009). This paper provides new data on the spatial extent and variability of the quarry complex, including preliminary observations of material extraction and adze reduction strategies, with some preliminary hypotheses on the importance of Colyers Island as a major centre for adze manufacture in the greater Bluff region.

Environmental Setting

Colyers Island is situated on the tidal mudflats in the northern extent of Bluff Harbour, located at the southern coast of Southland, New Zealand. The island bedrock is a low-relief exposure of rocks of the Greenhills Group, which “consists of interbedded volcaniclastic breccia, dolerite, spilitic tuff, sandstone and rare limestone” (Turnbull & Allibone 2003: 26). Colyers Island is approximately 15.5 ha in area and today consists mostly of pasture. The island is accessible from the mainland by foot at low tide. The Colyers Island coast is eroding and it is unclear how much of the shoreline has been lost since prehistoric occupation.

The climate of Southland is far harsher than the tropical homelands of its Polynesian settlers.

Temperatures rarely exceed 25°C in summer and coastal locations, like Bluff Harbour, experience a mean annual air temperature of 10–11°C. Average annual rainfall in Southland exceeds 1100 mm, with about 100 windy days each year (Macara 2013). Bluff Harbour and Awarua Bay, which branches from the harbour to the west, are shallow inlets covering a total area of about 5700 ha (Figure 2).

The landscape surrounding Bluff Harbour and Awarua Bay consists largely of low-relief peatland, inland from sandy mudflats with gravel beaches. Environmental conditions in Bluff Harbour and

Mokomoko Inlet (sandy, with strong wind action), have created ventifacts on exposed surfaces of boulders and outcrops throughout these areas. Ventifacts from pebble to boulder size occur throughout much of the Colyers Island coast and can be identified by distinctive morphological features such as keels, facets and polish (Knight 2008).

Bluff Argillite

Bluff argillite is a dark grey-green metasedimentary rock. It forms part of the Greenhills group, a lithostratigraphic unit of the Brook Street terrain (Turnbull & Allibone 2003). The Greenhills Group includes Tiwai Point, the Bluff Harbour islands, Greenhills and Mokomoko Inlet to the north, as well as Dog Island and part of Ruapuke Island in Foveaux Strait. The metasedimentary rocks of the

Greenhills Group were formed during the Late Permian, when deeply deposited waterlaid ash and other volcanogenic sediments underwent contact metamorphism caused by heat from the underlying plutonic rocks of the Median Batholith (Mossman and Force 1969; Mortimer et al. 1999).

Exposures and boulders of Bluff argillite occur on Colyers Island, Tikore Island and the western edge of the harbour (Greenhills), with stone working localities recorded throughout these areas (Figure 2).

Petrographic thin sections of argillite from these locations commonly include feldspar and actinolite with some biotite, pyrite and pyroxene and showed slight, moderate and strong recrystallisation.

Bluff argillite ranges in grain size from fine siltstone to fine sandstone. The different exposures of

Bluff Harbour argillite are macroscopically indistinguishable in terms of colour and texture, but can be easily differentiated by colour from Riverton argillite.

Replication experiments have shown that Bluff argillite is extremely tough and difficult to work, requiring a great deal of force to detach flakes (Turner 2000: 57). Bluff argillite adzes commonly exhibit extensive hammer dressing (Jennings 2009), and Turner (2000: 133-134) has argued this was an innovation intended to compensate for the difficulties of flaking the tough material during the later stages of adze manufacture. Adzes produced using Bluff argillite are exclusively Archaic types and were only produced during the first two centuries after human arrival in New Zealand (Jennings

2009). Adzes identified as Bluff argillite include large quadrangular cross-sectioned forms (Duff Types

1A and 2A), large bifacial forms (Types 3B-D), and trihedral cross-sectioned examples (Type 4) including the side-hafted Type 5 (Duff 1959, 1977). As Colyers Island is major source of Bluff argillite, many of these adze types are likely to be typical of those made there (Figure 3). These Archaic types are considered important implements for early canoe manufacture (Turner 2005). Bluff argillite adzes exhibit quadrilateral and trihedral cross-sections and elaborations such as lugs, which require a high degree of skill to produce (Clarkson et al. 2014; Shipton et al. 2016). The geographic distribution of Bluff argillite adzes spans much of the lower half of the South Island, similar to the distribution of Riverton argillite adzes (Figure 4) (Jennings 2009).

Previous Archaeological Research

Colyers Island was surveyed by Bristow, Gillies, and Gumbley in 1985 at the request of the New

Zealand Historic Places Trust after the then-landowner proposed subdividing the island. They recorded eight sites around the island, most of which were small flaking floors associated with quarried boulders, although two sites exhibited evidence of extensive stone working. One of these, site E47/118, is exposed across most of the southeast coast intertidal zone, consisting of quarried

boulders, hammerstones, preforms and extensive amounts of debitage from adze manufacture.

Material from this site erodes along the highwater mark indicating intact deposits in the island interior adjacent to the exposed intertidal zone. The second major site is E47/121, a small islet approximately 60 m east of the main island. This site consists of an outcrop of jointed argillite underlying stone working debitage (Figure 5). At site E47/118, Bristow, Gillies, and Gumbley mapped and photographed worked boulders, outcrops and large gabbronorite hammerstones distributed throughout the intertidal zone. The site exhibits a continuous flaking floor of variable density around the quarried boulders, with a smaller, discontinuous band of flakes from adze manufacture above

[although more likely within] the high tide zone. Bristow et al. (1985) speculated that many of the boulders had been lifted onto other stones to reduce the absorption of percussive force by the underlying mudflats.

Citing an average diameter of 30 cm, Bristow et al. (1985) argued that the size and density of the large hammerstones would have made them too cumbersome to accurately detach flakes from the

Colyers Island boulders if wielded by hand. Instead they proposed a similar method to that described by J.W. Stack (1935), where large hammerstones were hafted to beams of wood and hammering blows directed onto the target rock with rope. Stack’s method was based on communications with

Maori informants during the early 1880s, who described a process for breaking up large nephrite boulders (Stack 1935: 272-273). It is doubtful that this method would provide any additional precision for detaching flakes from the boulders on Colyers Island and it is unlikely that this method was applied there.

At site E47/118, Bristow et al. (1985) documented two areas exhibiting a lack of coarse flakes and rocks, which they surmised were cleared as potential canoe landing zones. They also recorded an alignment of stones enclosing a tidal embayment, opposite site E47/121. They suggested that the stone feature could be a pre-European fish trap. The cleared areas and potential fish trap were the only features recorded on the island not specifically related to stone working. Cultivation on the

island and the abundant gorse were cited as factors that had “obliterated or obscured any related occupation sites” (Bristow et al. 1985). However, since no excavation has been undertaken, this claim is unsubstantiated. No sites with cultural material have been recorded in the island interior, but no systematic survey has been carried out there.

Colyers Island was visited as part of the Southland Coastal Heritage Inventory project (SCHIP)

(Jacomb & Walter 2005), a comprehensive upgrade of site record data across much of the mainland coast of Foveaux Strait. Subsequent investigations of Colyers Island during the SCHIP work identified further isolated features and artefact scatters within the island’s intertidal area, exclusively related to quarrying and adze manufacture. A review by Jennings (2009) of Southland argillite adzes from the collections held at the Southland, Otago and Canterbury museums did not report any finished adzes retrieved from Colyers Island. Finished or near-complete adzes were likely transported elsewhere after production. Alternatively, well-finished preforms or other items may have been removed from the site for private collections, as archaeological sites in the southern South Island suffered from widespread early fossicking and curio-hunting (Leach 1972; Samson 2003).

At Tiwai Point, approximately 6 km southeast of Colyers Island, a multipurpose hunting and stone working site was excavated in 1968 prior to the construction of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter

(Park 1969). A diverse midden was excavated at the site, consisting largely of marine mammal and bird bones, including those of moa (Sutton & Marshall 1980). The site exhibited a large stone assemblage, including a variety of non-local sources, but the most abundant stone at the site was

Bluff argillite, attributed petrographically and by hand specimen to Colyers and Tikore islands

(Huffadine 1978: 48). Evidence for the later stages of adze manufacture is present at the site, including hammer-dressing, grinding and the refurbishment of broken adzes. Huffadine (1978: 57) suggested that argillite was reduced for transport at the quarries on Colyers Island and taken to

Tiwai Point for the later stages of adze manufacture.

Bristow et al. (1985) speculated that in addition to Tiwai Point, raw material from Colyers Island was taken west to the mainland Greenhills site E47/20, purportedly a major workshop site. Although there is little information about the site, a large oven was reported and flake debris (including some from sources outside the Bluff area) occurred across an area of 1.2 ha (Site Record Form). Colyers

Island is located approximately 1.3 km northeast of the site, and while it may be the source of some of the argillite, other sources in the immediate vicinity of the Greenhills site may have been used.

Several other working sites have been recorded around the Bluff Harbour area in the New Zealand

Archaeological Site Recording Scheme, but these are primarily small flake scatters with an occasional preform, possibly representing single events.

Survey Methods and Results

The shoreline surrounding Colyers Island was surveyed in February 2016 by the authors to relocate previously recorded sites and identify any new sites. The objectives were to obtain information on the location, spatial extent, and condition of the sites, and to identify features (quarried boulders and outcrops) and types of artefacts present. The survey was conducted at low tide, as the sites are inundated at high tide. As the largest site with the most potential for extensive inland subsurface deposits, site E47/118 was mapped again in June 2016 in preparation for future excavation. North- south transects, spaced 5 m apart, were walked over the site, and a ProMark 800 Differential Global

Positioning System (DGPS) was used to record worked boulders and outcrops, hammerstones and fragments, stone pedestal features, and adze manufacture areas (Figure 6). The seaward limits of the sites were defined by the extent of exposed artefacts in the mudflats, and inland by the highwater mark along the perimeter of the island, largely demarcated by thick gorse. Some artefacts may have been covered by sediment accretion and therefore not seen during the survey and it is likely

that artefacts have been displaced from tidal action. The exposed portion of site E47/118 covers an area of 2.3ha (Figure 6). In January 2018, Jennings revisited site E47/118 to obtain aerial photographs of site E47/121 and of the possible fish trap recorded by Bristow et al. (1985). A DJI

Mavic PRO drone was used to obtain a series of photographs taken at a 70˚ angle at both locations.

A 53 x 65 m flight plan was set at a 20 m altitude above site E47/121 and a 50 x 58 m flight plan was set at a 30 m altitude above the fish trap feature. These photographs were compiled using Agisoft

Photoscan Professional to create orthomosaic aerial photographs of both locations.

Worked Boulders and Outcrops

Worked boulders were defined as >25 cm in length exhibiting flake scarring. Some 245 worked boulders were mapped at site E47/118, ranging from 25-203 cm in length (x = 79.54, SD = 33.69).

Some examples had extensive flaking, showing that a large amount of mass had been detached.

Some boulders were positioned to create and exploit multiple striking platforms (Figure 7 A); other boulders exhibit only a few shallow flake scars, suggesting material testing or failure to detach appropriate sized flakes for adze manufacture (Figure 7 B). Some worked boulders overlie flaked debitage or are propped up on smaller rocks positioned to provide an appropriate angle for flake detachment (Figure 7 C). Many boulders exhibited relatively small debitage clustered around them, indicating that testing of the material or the earlier stages of preform shaping also occurred throughout the intertidal zone where quarrying was undertaken. Only four dyke outcrops exhibited flake scarring, and tabular pieces were likely prised from these formations without percussive force.

Most tabular pieces used for adze blanks would have been obtained from site E47/121 as this is the most abundant location of this form of raw material.

Adze Manufacture Zones

Large concentrations of artefacts related to adze manufacture are in three zones of E47/118. These areas are close to the high tide mark and consisted of densely concentrated, fine-grained flakes predominantly under 10 cm in length, complete hammerstones and fragments, and preforms. The largest of these adze manufacture zones (AMZ1) covers a continuous area of approximately 1200 m² and extends along most of the area adjacent to the high tide limit at the island’s southernmost coast. Few worked boulders are located here, and although the area appears to be mostly restricted to artefact manufacture, three stone features, possibly related to quarrying boulders, are in this zone (see below). Although debitage is exposed throughout this area, it is interspersed with sediment and natural shell, and the depth of the deposits is unclear. Flakes exposed along the eroding wave-cut bank indicates this zone of artefact manufacture continues inland.

Two smaller adze manufacture zones are located in the western part of the site, also extending into the island interior. The second largest adze manufacturing zone (AMZ2) covers ~335 m² and is situated near eight worked boulders. Large densities of flaked ventifacts, large flakes exhibiting secondary working, preforms and hammerstone fragments are present throughout this area. The third of these manufacturing zones (AMZ3) is ~155 m² and extends from several boulders on the mudflats into the high tide zone. Adze manufacturing debitage is less concentrated here than in the other two zones, and smaller artefacts such as cores and flakes are located at the high tide mark. No hammerstones or hammerstone fragments were observed in this area.

Pedestal Features

Four stone features were recorded in or near AMZ1. These are clusters of stones that appear to be arranged as a platform to position larger boulders for quarrying. The largest of these features (F1) covers a 3 m² area and is located adjacent to the largest adze manufacture area (Figure 7 D). The area surrounding this feature is largely cleared of debitage from quarrying and preform

manufacture. The remaining three features (F2-4) are smaller (under 1 m²), and in a more collapsed state than F1.

Fish Trap

The fish trap feature is located in the eastern area of site E47/118, consisting of a concentration of mostly unworked boulders bordering a shallow depression relatively devoid of larger rocks. Bristow et al. (1985) suggested that this feature may have been used to strand fish caught in the depression at low tide. Observations made during the surveys indicate that this feature becomes flooded from the south at high tide prior to the complete inundation of the remaining beach. The concave aspect of this feature is unique around the Colyers Island coast, and no other cleared areas exhibit concentrations of rocks around their edges. Although tidal deposition of sediment has probably obscured much of the original feature, it is likely that it was culturally modified for use as a fish trap.

Artefacts

Adze Blanks

Although a detailed analysis of artefacts from Colyers Island has not yet been undertaken, some preliminary observations can be made. Three forms of raw material were used to manufacture preforms: flakes, tabular blocks, and cobbles. The extensive quarrying of boulders across the Colyers

Island sites indicates that large flakes were used as blanks for producing preforms. Some of these examples retained the original flake surfaces, including the bulb of percussion and sometimes the striking platform (Figure 8 A). On these adze blanks, the bulb of the original flake was located at the proximal end, and the flake was trimmed bilaterally to produce a preform. Adze blanks exhibiting extensive cortex and largely retaining their original ventifact form indicates that appropriately shaped ventifacts were used for modification into preforms (Figure 8 B). Preliminary observations suggest that blanks were discarded due to transverse fracture (Figure 8 C) and failure to remove persistent masses (Figure 8 D). Some irregularly shaped blanks were discarded after failed attempts

to work; other examples provide no indication as to why they were discarded. No examples of blanks or preforms were observed with hammer-dressing.

Hammerstones and Hammerstone fragments

Most hammerstones were fashioned from gabbronorite, a volcanic rock of the Bluff Intrusives group which forms much of the Bluff Peninsula (Turnbull and Allibone 2003) and does not occur naturally on Colyers Island. Some 32 fragmentary and three complete hammerstones were identified.

Gabbronorite hammerstones were predominantly discoidal, ovoid and elongate. Smaller (<15 cm length) discoidal examples (n=19), could be easily held and manipulated one-handed and exhibited bruising from percussion. These hammerstones possessed insufficient mass to detach large flakes for use as adze blanks but were of appropriate size and shape for roughout shaping and the later stages of adze manufacture as has been documented at other adze quarries (Weisler et al. 2013: 7c-f).

Many fragmented examples were split longitudinally, due to excessive percussive force. All smaller examples were gabbronorite (Figure 8 A-I). Nine large (15-35 cm long) hammerstones were elongate or ovoid in shape and their large size would require two hands to manipulate. These were most likely used for detaching large flakes from boulders to use as adze blanks. (Figure 9). Most of these larger hammerstones were made from gabbronorite, although some argillite and coarser rocks local to

Colyers Island were also used. Four hammerstones were so fragmented that their original size and shape could not be determined. One small hammerstone fragment exhibited a groove spanning its midsection, indicating that it may have been previously used as a sinker. This is the only example of an artefact identified during the survey that was not exclusively related to quarrying or adze manufacture. Hammerstones were predominantly found at AMZ1 and AMZ2, although several larger hammerstone fragments and a few smaller hammerstones were located outside these areas.

Discussion and Conclusions

Although Bluff argillite is similar in many working properties to basalts familiar to the earliest

Polynesian settlers, the stone required technological innovations and adaptations to master its use.

Further work is required to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of occupation and stone exploitation on Colyers Island, but a few preliminary observations can be made. The available evidence for quarrying and preform adze manufacture suggests that material was quarried from sources in the intertidal zone, with initial raw material testing and preform shaping at the source. To facilitate detaching large flakes, some boulders were manipulated into suitable positions, sometimes onto platforms of arranged rocks or layers of flaked debitage. The requirements of moving large boulders and the task of positioning them on these supporting rocks suggests an organisation of quarrying activities involving several people. Preform preparation occurred on the island interior near what is now the high tide line. Imported gabbronorite was the primary hammerstone material likely obtained from a location on the Bluff Peninsula. Several factors, including the physical labour requirements on site, importation of hammerstones, and transport of materials offsite for the final stages of manufacture suggest that adze production on Colyers Island was a highly organised activity. Adzes produced in Bluff Harbour include types which have been shown to require a great deal of skill to produce (Shipton et al. 2016), indicating a level of specialisation.

Further research on Colyers Island should focus on determining its role as a major centre within a system of lithic production and distribution in the Bluff Harbour area. The available evidence suggests a model focused on the exploitation of sources throughout the harbour from temporary bases and secondary working sites at Tiwai Point and Greenhills. As the region is not considered to have been permanently occupied this indicates a temporary, self-contained industry in the harbour area facilitating the production of adze preforms for export to settlements outside the Southland

region to the north. To test this model the connection must be explored between Colyers Island and the other Bluff Harbour sites in terms of occupation, resource acquisition and chronology.

Technological investigations of preform and flake assemblages from Colyers Island should be compared with the excavated assemblage of Tiwai Point to better understand adze production in the region. Further investigation should document the details of the Bluff Harbour resource production network and how it relates to the Riverton source. The distributions of Bluff and Riverton argillites may indicate that the same groups were exploiting both materials, which suggests that a larger, overarching regional strategy may have been in place.

The Southland climate and environment is far more severe than that of the tropical homelands of the first Polynesian settlers, but people were active in the region as early as any other area of New

Zealand. Jacomb et al. (2010) suggest that the acquisition of Bluff argillite (as well as Riverton argillite) was the primary reason that the Foveaux Strait region was occupied during the Archaic phase. Colyers Island, the largest source of Bluff argillite, was an intensively exploited locality, situated in a marginal environment and distant from permanent settlements. The acquisition of Bluff argillite from Colyers Island indicates a continuation of a pan-Polynesian adze industry, which attracted people to seek out high quality sources across Polynesia, despite extremes of distance, isolation and environment. The exploitation of Bluff argillite also illustrates an intensive demand for raw material during the New Zealand Archaic. Although the more abundant, centrally located

Nelson-Marlborough stone sources could have been exclusively relied upon to supply raw material for the entire country, the southern argillites were still extensively exploited. Large scale adze production was essential throughout Polynesia, and this proclivity continued upon the settlement of

New Zealand—the last group of islands settled in Polynesia.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Te Ao Marama for welcoming us to Murihiku and for their involvement and support for this project. We also thank Daryl Russell of Colyers Island for her interest in and enthusiasm for the project. Assistance from Jay Woodhams, Matt Carter and Edumali

Walter during the surveys is greatly appreciated, as well as support from Estelle Leask (Te Ao

Marama) and Debbie Ellis during the 2018 site visit. Ceri Shipton and Emma St Pierre are thanked for providing helpful feedback on the draft of this paper. We are grateful to Moira White of the Otago

Museum for organising the photographs of Bluff argillite adzes from the museum collections. This fieldwork was funded in part by a University of Queensland Research Scholarship (Jennings), a grant from the Skinner Fund awarded to Jennings in 2016, and a Marsden grant (13-UOO-181) awarded to

Walter, Weisler and Chris Jacomb.

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Figure Captions

Figure 1: Locations mentioned in the text.

Figure 2: Locations of sites in Bluff Harbour area and Greenhills Group. Inset box of sites recorded by

Bristow, Gillies and Gumbley (1985).

Figure 3: Examples of adzes made from Bluff argillite in Otago Museum. A. Duff Type 1A, B. Duff

Type 3A, C: Duff Type 4A, D: Duff Type 1A with lugs, E: Duff Type 5.

Figure 4: Distribution of Bluff and Riverton argillite adzes (after Jennings 2009).

Figure 5: Site E47/121 outcrop quarry. Arrows point to debitage concentrated on the west side of the outcrop.

Figure 6: Map of major quarry site E47/118.

Figure 7: Worked boulders and pedestal feature. A: boulder exhibiting extensive flake scarring, B: boulder exhibiting shallow flake scarring, C: boulder positioned on top of debitage. Note large flake removed from the entire right side of the boulder. D: Pedestal feature F1.

Figure 8: Examples of adze blanks and hammerstones. A: flake blank, B: ventifact cobble blank, C: blank discarded due to transverse fracture, D: irregularly shaped blank discarded due to large mass visible in side view. E: mostly complete discoidal hammerstone, F: repurposed sinker hammerstone with groove at midpoint, perpendicular to the long axis, G-I: hammerstone fragments

Figure 9: Example of a large hammerstone fragment from site E47/118

Supplemental Figure 1: Fish trap feature. A: aerial view, B: feature at ground level. Looking west, people mark the position of the stone alignment demarcated in figure above.