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*****In most large collections relatively small adzes dominate, and it may be that the average adze (that used most often in the daily routine) was often under 10 cm. in length, and possessed a relatively straight cutting edge with a width of about 40 mm. In the early adzes at Hane the small 2A such as I have illustrated in Diagram 18.1 looks to be the likely candidate. It is possible to demonstrate that this same form was in use during the early periods in Tubuai, however the 2C adzes can also be seen and it may be that they are the earlier dominant form. It only requires reversing the 2C to discover 2A, the manufacturing process for both adzes being more or less identical. This then looks to me to be the most likely solution, Buck has suggested that the 2A was an improvement over the 2C, certainly it allowed an increase in cutting edge width, however the fragility of the wider edge is also to be considered. I suspect that the 2C cutting edge
was a more stable form, in rocks which fragmented easily, the 2A adzes may have been preferred with the discovery of better quality rock (such as the black Marquesan) the pecking may also have been a response to this tougher rock.
*****In this Volume, I present a number of adzes which may have been at one time the common type. These are all small to medium sized and about the same weight. We see in Diagram 18.9 an important early example of a tanged 2C. In as much as tanged and untanged forms are found in Tubuai it is possible to consider that the transition may have occurred locally. Certain authors have suggested that not all adzes require tangs, however such speculation may be overlooking another important possibility. I suspect that tangs may have originally been devised in an effort to limit the internal wear of the lashing, in which case any adze could require tanging (regardless of the angle of attack). Further it must be added that many of the early Hane adzes appear to have been tanged in this manner i.e. with the butt margins rounded off (probably regarded by some authors as incipiently tanged). The Samoans appear to have preferred their trapezoidal forms, these would not require the same sort of butt modification as the reversed trapezoidal types which otherwise menaced the lashing with sharp angular margins.
*****Once the idea of rounding off the butt margins takes hold it is easy to imagine the further modification of the anterior surface to assure a better grip for the lashing. This is again the further development of tanging independent of the need to protect the lashing from external wear, and is a form of tanging that could be applied to any number of different adze types. It is this further development of tanging which is absent in Samoa and which appears to be linked to the technique of bruising or pecking which is also absent.
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