New Zealand History - The Truth 6

History of moko tattoo design

To the left is seen a fired clay artefact from Cucuteni, Draguseni, Romania (circa 4050 BC) showing the use of the returning double spiral, arguably the most used and prolific symbol of ancient European-Medite rranean sun-worshipping peoples. The same returning double spirals were copiously carved into wood or incised into stone in pre-Polynesian New Zealand. Note the moko tattoo design adorning a village totem recovered from an ancient New Zealand settlement. Note also the inlaid blue-green paua shell (abalone) to indicate the colour of the eyes of the individual. Maori oral traditions clearly state that the art of moko facial tattooing was taught to Maori-Polynesia ns by the Turehu people who occupied New Zealand for thousands of years before the arrival of the Maori. The earliest inhabitants were described as "uru-kehu & kiri-puwhero" (people with red or golden tinged hair with white skin of a ruddy complexion). They were also described as having blue-green eyes or other Caucasoid hues of both hair and eye colour. The Maori warriors eventually cannibalised this ancient New Zealand civilisation into extinction.