A nice piece. I've seen and handled a few similar without the detailed carving ... it could be for the reasons you mention or perhaps just that without the carving was a particular style preferred by some Maori ?
I havn't seen holes to the edge of blade before, and would presume they were for attachment of feathers or streamers of some type, as was done with the tewhatewha weapon.
For further information you could perhaps enquire with the relevant curator of one of the New Zealand museums (with a set of images etc).
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