Axe

The Ax(e) is an ancient and ubiquitous tool that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, harvest timber, as a weapon and a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many forms and specialized uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, or helve.

History

Early stone tools like the hand axe were probably not hafted. The first true hafted axes are known from the Mesolithic period (ca. 6000 BC), where axes made from antler were used that continued to be utilized in the Neolithic in some areas. Chopping tools made from flint where hafted as adzes.

Related Topics:
Hand axe - Mesolithic - Flint - Adze

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Axes made from ground stone are known since the Neolithic. They were used to fell trees and for woodworking. Few wooden hafts have been found, but it seems that the axe was normally hafted by wedging. Birch-tar and raw-hide lashings were used to fix the blade. Since the late Neolithic (Michelsberg culture, Cortaillod culture) very small axe blades of a rectangular shape became common. They were hafted with an antler sleeve. This prevented both the splitting of the haft and softened the impact on the stone blade itself.

Related Topics:
Neolithic - Birch-tar - Michelsberg culture - Cortaillod culture - Antler

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The earlier Neolithic axe blades were made by first knapping and then grinding a stone. By late Neolithic times, sawing (wooden saws and sand) became common. This allowed a more efficient use of the raw material. In Scandinavia, Northern Germany and Poland axe blades made from knapped and polished flint were common.

Related Topics:
Saw - Flint

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Stone axes are quite efficient tools; using one, it takes about 10 minutes to fell an ash of 10 cm diameter, one to two hours for an ash of 30 cm diameter. (Modern comparison, 25 cm white pine, standing chop, under two minutes with a 3.5 kg competition felling axe.)

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From the late Neolithic onwards (Pfyn-Altheim cultures) flat axes were made of copper or copper mixed with Arsenic. Bronze Axes are found since the early Bronze Age (A2). The flat axe developed into palstaves, flanged axes and later winged and socketed axes. The so-called Battle-axe people of 3rd millennium BC Europe has been suggested to correspond to early Indo-European peoples, ancestors of the later Celtic and Germanic tribes. Axes also were a important part in the Chinese weaponry.

Related Topics:
Pfyn-Altheim culture - Copper - Arsenic - Bronze Age - Palstaves - Battle-axe people - 3rd millennium BC - Indo-European - Celt - Germanic tribes

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The Proto-Indo-European word for "axe" may have been pelek'u- (Greek pelekus πέλεκυς, Sanskrit parashu, see also Parashurama), but the word was probably a loan, or a neolithic wanderwort, ultimately related to Sumerian balag, Akkadian pilaku- (see also Labrys).

Related Topics:
Proto-Indo-European - Greek - Sanskrit - Parashurama - Wanderwort - Sumerian - Akkadian - Labrys

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Late Neolithic 'axe factories', where thousands of ground stone axes were roughed out are known from Great Britain (for example Great Langdale in Cumbria), Ireland (Lambay Island, porphyry, Rathlin Island and Tievebulliagh, porcellanite) Poland (Krzemionki, flint), France (Plancher-les-Mines, Vosges, pelite, Plussulien, Brittany, meta-dolerite) and Italy (Val de'Aoste, omphacite. The distribution of stone axes is an important indication of prehistoric trade. thin sectioning is used to determine the provenance of ground stone axe blades.

Related Topics:
Great Langdale - Cumbria - Lambay Island - Rathlin Island - Tievebulliagh - Krzemionki - Flint - Plancher-les-Mines - Pelite - Plussulien - Brittany - Dolerite - Omphacite - Trade - Thin sectioning

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Stone axes are still produced and in use today in parts of Irian Jaya, New Guinea. The Mount Hagen area was an important production centre.

Related Topics:
Irian Jaya - Mount Hagen

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