Axe Head

This type of thin, flat, unhafted axe blade was widespread throughout the Aegean, Anatolia, and western Asia during the third millennium BCE (1). It flares out very slightly at the subtly curved cutting edge and tapers, also slightly, to the rounded butt at the opposite end. It is unclear whether these objects were meant to be used by themselves, or were inserted into the ends of wooden or bone handles. It is also unclear whether they were tools for cutting, shaving, or smoothing wood. NOTES: 1. Axes generally similar in shape from the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum are published in J. W. Hayes, Ancient Metal Axes and Other Tools in the Royal Ontario Museum: European and Mediterranean Types (Toronto, 1991) 5-8, nos. 2-8. All seem to be from the third millennium BCE. The reported findspots of these objects range from eastern Europe to Cyprus. David G. Mitten