Thread: New Zealanders presented with 40 flag options to vote for new national standard

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Originally Posted by ENT

Check the stone's composition with a mass spectrometer or by thin section analysis under a cross polarized microscope to determine its origin.

OK, so I ask again then, if it was 100% conclusively proven to be of non-Maori origin what would that then say to you?

Just as I said, it says to me that the provenance of the serpentine needs establishing by either of the methods I've indicated.

The serpentine compares favourably with that from Indonesia or China according to some, suggesting it was brought to NZ from Asia, before colonization began, likely during the late archaic or early classical period.

It isn't a Maori carving, though.