Whareatea Hei Matu 100mmx70mm

Description

Lovely black Whareatea Bay Argillite/Pakohe one piece lugged contemporary take on the early archaic phase style of Hei Matu or fishing hook. These type of hooks have been found throughout New Zealand and resemble a lot of our south Pacific neighbours style in their manufacture. The Island Nations though preferring the thick large clam shells found there as a medium, mainly due to it’s availability. There is no hole bored through the stone to hold the tie-off in place rather it relies on four lugs at the top for the lashing to be wound around in a systematic pattern. The argillite/pakohe used here is a rare and high tensile variety found only on one part of D’urville, a large island situated in Nelson/Marlborough’s Queen Charlotte Sounds. This like the Ohana variety argillite was highly prized by Maori and was nearly completely mined out almost 400 years before it’s main land Whangomoa cousin had even been discovered indicating how prized it was.