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It is estimated that by the beginning of the classic period of Maori art and culture about 90 percent of the population lived in the North Island of New Zealand. The smaller groups of the South Island were apparently more conservative, and it was thus largely in the north that a spectacular florescence of sculpture and architecture took place. Two major carving styles existed. The northwestern style (especially in reliefs) featured undulating, serpentine shapes; human bodies and limbs were tubular or triangular in section and often intertwined. Heads were peaked, with gaping mouths that often had hands and arms looped ...(100 of 20297 words)