Linton — Tlie Marquesas Islands 325 



a turner's chisel. The shaft, either from accident or intention, is curved to fit 

 the hand accurately, and the whole surface shows a slight but even polish of the 

 sort acquired through wear, so that it is probable that the implement was never 

 hafted. 



COMPARISON OF MARQUESAN ADZES WITH OTHER POLYNESIAN TYPES 



A thorough comparative study of Oceanic adzes would, the author believes, 

 yield results of great ethnological value. Such a study is beyond the scope 

 of this paper, but it seems well to point out the features which distinguish Poly- 

 nesian adzes as a class from those used in Melanesia, and to indicate the distri- 

 bution of the various Polynesian types. No satisfactory information is available 

 for some parts of Polynesia, but the conditions appear to be as follows : 



Melanesian adzes as a class are oval or eliptical in cross section, with 

 smoothly rounded contours, and nearly all of them are completely ground and 

 polished. The use of a distinct tang is unknown. Polynesian adzes, on the other 

 hand, are triangular to rectangular in crosssection with surfaces composed of a 

 few large planes meeting at sharp angles. New Zealand appears to have been 

 the only locality in which the grinding and polishing of all surfaces was normal. 

 Fully ground specimens are fairly common from Tonga, the Society, Austral 

 and Cook groups, and from Easter and Chatham Islands, but are less numerous 

 in collections than those which are at least partially rough. In Hawaii and 

 Samoa fully ground adzes are almost unknown, while in the Marquesas com- 

 plete grinding is practically limited to the toki aa type. In Tonga there appear 

 to be two quite distinct types, one of which is clearly Melanesian while the other 

 is an angular tangless blade of Polynesian character. Adzes of Melanesian con- 

 tour and finish are present in collections from New Zealand, Easter Island, 

 Chatham Island and rarely from the Society Islands. It thus appears that, 

 broadly speaking, adzes of Melanesian type are present in all those localities in 

 which there is a marked tendency toward complete grinding of recognizably Poly- 

 nesian forms, while they are lacking in regions where complete grinding is rare 

 or absent. It seems probable, therefore, that this feature is everywhere refer- 

 able to a Melanesian influence, either direct or transmitted, and that the original 

 Polynesian implement was ground, at most, upon the bit and outer face. 



The angular Polynesian adzes may be divided into two main classes, tanged 

 and tangless, each of which contains a number of subtypes. Tanged adzes are 

 present in all the marginal Polynesian areas and extend as far west as the Cook 

 Islands but they are rare in Samoa and absent in Tonga. They are divided into 

 well marked local types : the Hawaiian type, the Southwestern type and the New 

 Zealand type. 



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