Abstract
The reassembling of original parent blocks from the scattered waste flakes, blades, and cores recovered from working floors may be likened to attempting a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle which is known to be incomplete. Nevertheless, reconstruction of only a small number of blocks may reveal valuable details of the actual manufacturing processes. The method was applied to the problem of the technological affinities of anomalous blade knives used by early East Polynesian settlers in southern New Zealand. It enabled a comparison to be made of the reduction sequences at a blade-making site and an adze manufactory, and demonstrated that the technical knowledge required for adze-making at this period encompassed the techniques necessary for successful production of blade knives.