Axe History.

The stone age gets it’s name from the fact that during said time, tools were made of stone. At the time of the early stone age, most humans lived by gathering, fishing, and hunting. The late stone age, about eleven thousand years go, there ws the use of copper, and then humans made the leap to the bronze age, as tools were then made of bronze. Our axe, is surely one of the very oldest tools use by humans in history. Hand axes actually date back farther than one million years. The axe had no shaft at all, was held in the hand, and used as a chopping tool.   The boat axe period which is also known as the battle axe culture, lasted from about 3200 BC to 1800 BC. That period is when the people of Norway and Sweden advanced both the production of axes as well as the production of ceramic pottery. They used chisels as tools, and also flints for making fire. It was after that, during the age of bronze, that stone axes began to be replaced by copper and then bronze headed axes. At the start of said transition, these metallic axe heads closely mirrored the shape and size of stone axe heads.   The bronze axe, was the first axe to be mass produced because is was cast via moulds. The Celt axe, also known as the socketed axe, had a wedge shape, and no hole for a shaft. Humans fixed the blade into a socket at the rear end. The palstave axe was another later bronze age tool used from about 1500 BC to 1000 BC. It had a narrow rear, and was fitted into a split handle made of wood. It was then held in place using leather ties. Many axes form the bronze age, made of also copper, have been found frozen in the alpine snows, and preserved for our historical benefit.   Regarding the iron age of axes, the older bronze axes were just replaced in iron. It was more or less an advancement in metal forms, and yet due to the change in materials, it enabled man kind to eventually hone the craft of axe making, and offer changes to the designs. It was near this time that handle holes appeared, and axe heads became bigger and wider. At Scandinavia, iron axes hve been found that date back to 100 AD.   This web site will continue to explore the axe, and offer posts regularly regarding axe history, and what is relevant to current axe production world wide. Future posts will offer info on what is currently available, as well as what axe is best for what application.