Flat ax
The flat hatchet is a hatchet shape made of stone , copper , bronze or iron , which has its origin in the cut stone axes of the Neolithic and was used until the early Iron Age . The best-known flat ax is the man from Similaun's ax made of copper .
Shaft
The stock design of flat axes is usually by knee wood . Other scarfing methods are known. In the Neolithic Age, there are often stocks in which a stone blade is also inserted into an adapter made of antlers .
History and Development
Flat axes developed in the Neolithic from the common, roughly hewn axes made of flint and parallel to the shaft-hole ax , the forerunner of which can be found in drilled antler axes. By grinding the surfaces of a roughly hewn stone ax you get a straight, even cutting edge and flatter flanks, which increases the usability. It is also possible to re-sharpen the cutting edge. In the further development, the axes, which were initially only ground at the cutting edges, were completely machined. Such elaborately manufactured flat axes also served as a symbol of rule and power, which the finds of high-quality jadeite axes show. The culture of ribbon ceramics, which was widespread in the Neolithic Age, is known for the finds of well-worked flat axes. However, it is most probably finds to cross geschäftete hatchets, so-called shoe lasts wedges , so to adzes . The axes may have been used both as tools and as weapons.
With the beginning of metal processing, the first copper axes appeared, which were very similar in shape and had the same shaft. Due to the rarer raw material, production and usability, copper axes are usually much flatter than their stone predecessors. Since copper becomes harder with cold compaction, the cutting edges can be machined specifically after casting. Traces of this can be found on finds of copper axes. It is therefore the oldest evidence of forging metal. The first developments in the direction of the marginal ridge ax can already be found on copper axes, including Ötzi's ax.
In the Bronze Age , the flat axes are then cast from bronze. In a short time, the flat ax develops into the marginal ridge ax, which means that finds of flat axes decrease. In the further course of the Bronze Age, flat axes rarely or not at all appear in Central Europe.
With the beginning of iron processing, flat axes in the form of so-called arm hatchets are increasingly found again . This is due to the new, more complex manufacturing processes for iron objects. Iron could not be cast like bronze; it had to be smelted, refined and forged in a racing furnace .
literature
- Marek Gedl: The axes in Poland IV: (metal axes, iron axes, hammers, anvils, chisels, awls) (prehistoric bronze finds) Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004. ISBN 3515083324
- Friedrich Laux : The axes and hatchets in Lower Saxony. Part 1. Flat, margin and heel axes. In: Prehistoric bronze finds. Abt. 9, Vol. 23, Stuttgart 2000. ISBN 3-515-07177-6
- Abraham Lissauer: The type maps of the flat and edge axes , Commission for prehistoric type maps , printed by Unger Berlin, 1904, (digitized at Archive.org)