New Material in a Traditional Form

With the arrival of Europeans from the eighteenth century on, Māori gained access to new materials, in particular metals such as steel and copper. These new materials were quickly adapted into tools, such as chisels for carving, and they soon replaced older, stone tools.

This steel fishhook is a good example of how a new material was used on a traditional form. Originally a pony shoe, it has been reshaped and adapted to form what would have been a very effective fishhook, probably for catching sharks. Little is known about this hook other than it was ploughed up in 1933 by Mr Sampson on his property adjacent to the Ngāmotu Golf Links.