Fishing lure made from tropical black-lipped pearl shell (Pinctada margaritifera).

It was found in 1964 during an archaeological excavation at Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula.

The lure is highly significant because it was made in East Polynesia (in the early-mid1300s) and brought here, on a waka, with the Polynesian settlers of Aotearoa.

Identifier: AU1785

Source record on Auckland Museum website.

AMCollection