Te Kohinga Taoka Māori

Collection Record

Hei tiki

Mostly complete pounamu hei tiki. Dark green and light brown. Surface is ground, with large flake broken off bottom proper right leg. Head is tilted to the proper left side and large in proportion to body. Suspension hole drilled mostly from the back, on knob at top of head. Deep-set eyes carved. Mouth and tongue indicated by shallow grooves. Arms curved outward with hands resting on thighs. Legs joined at the bottom. Perforations at arms and legs. Bevel on both sides of the distal edge resembles a cutting edge, indicating that this may have been reworked from an adze.

Provenance Place:
Whareakeake, Dunedin City, Otago, New Zealand

D25.557

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