290 



Memoirs Bciiiicc P. Bishop Museum 



An interesting feature of the house post carvings is the occasional use of tnotlied 

 lines suggestive of those used by the Maori in many of their carvings. Examples of the use 

 of such lines are shown in figure 6, c, c. 







a 



e 



FicuRE 6. — Designs carved on house posts : a. circles superposed upon straight vertical 

 grooves; b. ovals superposed upon straight vertical grooves; c, toothed lines; d, woven design; 

 c, spiral with toothed lines. Reproduced from rubbings. 



It is easy to conceive of the develo|)ment of house post carving from an 

 appreciation of the esthetic vakie of the adz marks left after tlie dressing of the 

 timber. In many objects wliich are not actually carved these marks are arranged 

 with evenness and regularity and give a decidedly ornamental effect. \Miat may 

 be considered as a intermediate stage between such adzing and actual carving 

 was observed in a set of end posts from Nuku Hiva and another from Fatu 

 Hiva. The inner surface of these posts had been adzed into a series of hori- 

 zontal grooves six to eight inches wide with a maximum central depth of one-half 

 inch, the ridges separating the grooves being narrow and sharp. The transition 

 from stich ornamental adzing to the simpler geometric designs would be easy. 



ORXAMEXTAL LASHIXGS 



Ornamental lashings were probably more commonly used as decorations 

 for the house than carvings, but because of the perishable nature of the ma- 

 terials few examples have survived. The material employed for lashings was a 



[30] 



