Votive ax
A votive ax is an object that is not used as a tool or weapon , which was produced exclusively for cultic purposes and placed in a cult room (cave, temple). The transition from a 'ceremonial ax' to a 'votive ax' is fluid and sometimes results from the context of the find.
background
A hatchet or an ax is an object which for the people of the Neolithic , Copper or Bronze Age meant a great technical advance and an enormous increase in power over nature and over other people. In the course of time, such an object eventually became a sign ( symbol ) for 'strength' and 'power'.
There is a large number of brilliantly polished hatchets or axes that show no signs of use and which one must therefore assume that they were not intended for everyday use from the start; many may not even have a handle. It can therefore be concluded that they were used exclusively for ceremonial purposes (e.g. sacrificial cults ) or as insignia of power or rule. Sometimes they were given to their deceased porters as grave goods ; others were consecrated to the gods as votive offerings and placed in clay jugs or other - mostly not preserved - containers in special chambers or rooms (e.g. in the Tumulus Mané-er-Hroëk near Locmariaquer , Bretagne). Many of these votive axes - often made from imported materials such as jadeite , flint , obsidian, etc. - were not found individually, but were discovered together with others as hoards .