axe (general & multipurpose)

Double headed axe made from stone and gum with wooden handle.

Axes initially tools of stone called hand axes, used without handles and had knapped (chipped) cutting edges of flint or other stone. Axes made with ground cutting edges are known since the Neolthic period ending 4,000 to 2000 BC. First true hafted axes are known from the Mesolithic period (c.6000 BC). Few wooden hafts have been found from this period, seems axe normally hafted by wedging. Birch-tar and raw-hide lashings used to fix the blade. Stone axes still prodcued and in use today in parts of Papua, Indonesia. Mount Hagen area of Papua New Guinea was an important production centre.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
HC.1999.417
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 310 x 120 x 40 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
stone, wood, gum
CATEGORY
Education Handling Collection: Anthropology
LOCATION
In storage
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Collection Information

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