44 LEAHY 
Artefacts 
Several complete adzes, a few roughouts and some stone material were collected 
on the ridge during scrub clearing operations. This collection is held at the Auckland 
Institute and Museum. A few wooden artefacts have also been recovered from the 
swamp gully below the pa. 
The completed adzes and at least one of the roughouts (38741) appear to be 
Northland gabbro on the basis of hand held specimen identification (S. Best pers. 
comm.). The completed adzes (Table 1) are all polished and quadrangular in cross 
section. There is also one of a similar type, found recently, in the possession of the 
owners of the site. All the adzes have short straight bevels (once described as a typical 
Northland type by the late Vic. Fisher of the Auckland Museum). The adzes represent 
a very interesting, well provenanced, collection. 
Another of the roughouts (38745.1), a large, quadrangular, coarse-grained piece 
of stone with no bevel has three shallow grooves running lengthwise up the “back”, 
separated by four low shoulders. The function of the grooves is iunknown. They do 
not appear to be natural. The roughout measures 21 cm in length, is 9 cm wide and 3.6 
cm thick. 
There were several pieces of modified stone as well as chert, an obsidian core and 
a flat stone with kokowai (red ochre) on it. 
Table 1. Adze measurements. 
__——————— eee 
Museum length width thickness 
number cm cm cm 
38744. 1 24.1 8.1 Sig 
38744.2 21.6 7.6 2.5 
38744.3 16.4 6.5 2.5 
38744.4 BY 7.1 3 
——- 10 6.5 1.8 
TT SS Ss— eee 
The Excavation 
Because excavation within the pa defences could have proved too complex for the 
time available, and in view of the well preserved external terrace system, Gorbey 
decided to investigate the largest amphitheatre terrace below the pa (Fig. 4). This was 
the lowest most northerly one and it measured approximately 22 x 11 m. The back of 
