Tekoteko
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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use New Zealand English
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A tekoteko is a Māori carved human figure that is mounted as a finial, usually above the gable of a Māori building, most commonly a wharenui (meeting house) or a pātaka (food storehouse).[1][2] It usually stands above the koruru, a carved head mounted where the bargeboards meet at the apex of the gable.[3] The tekoteko is carved as the embodiment of the one who takes a tree as material for their house and owns said house, as all things in the environment were believed as related to mankind from the union of Ranginui and Papatūānuku.[4]
The word tekoteko has also been used of freestanding carvings of human figures.[5]