The boat axe is an old name for the shaft-hole axe of the Swedish-Norwegian Battle Axe culture that is now simply referred to as the battle axe.The double-edged axes were always made from hard and homogeneous stones such as porphyry, and they were also finely polished. The axe has a flared edge that became very prominent among the later types, which also gained a flared butt. It occurred mainly around Rügen in Germany and on Zealand in Denmark, as the Battle Axe culture established itself in the surrounding areas. The double-headed battle axe is a shaft-hole axe from around 3400–2900 BC.The polygonal axe is seen as a copy of the Central European copper axes, but even in these areas, polygonal axes of various kinds have been found. The features are hammered out and then polished across the whole surface. It also tends to have various special features, such as a flared edge, an arched butt, an angled body, grooves and ridges. It is usually made from greenstone or some other exclusive stone, and is fitted with a shaft hole. The polygonal axe is a kind of battle axe that belongs to the Late Stone Age and dates to around 3000–3400 BC.Examples of these include the boat axes used in the Battle Axe cultures of Europe in around 3200–1800 BC (read more about the Battle Axe culture below). The shaft-hole axes were made using various stones, although not flint, and were more likely to be status weapons or ceremonial objects. These axes were probably used for woodwork, like a gouge or chisel for example. Axes with a hollow edge may be of different types and occur during different periods. The hollow-edged axe has a concave blade, like a modern gouge.It also occurs in eastern Småland, Bohuslän and Skåne, and on Gotland. It was particularly common in Central Sweden and the lower parts of Northern Sweden. The round stone axe belongs to the Early Stone Age, but also occurs in large numbers during the early part of the Late Stone Age. Only the edge is polished, the rest of the axe is often finely hammered. The round stone axe is a greenstone axe with an oval or rounded profile.The thin-butted axe was good for forest clearing, probably in the context of ring-barking. The older types are generally longer and broader and have a thinner butt than the later thick-butted axe.
They tend to be seen as a working axe, and originate from roughly 3700–3200 BC.
The core axe appeared during the Early Stone Age. The core axe is a roughly hewn, unpolished flint axe with a pointed butt and the widest part often towards the cutting edge.When, much later, the axe was given a wooden handle, several different types of axes were developed, which may be divided into two main groups: Non-shaft-hole axes and shaft-hole axes.Īs the name suggests, the non-shaft-hole axes had no hole for the handle and were generally made from flint, greenstone or slate. Gradually, the design was refined to include knives, scrapers and arrowheads, amongst other things.
The hand axe was probably used for many different tasks, everything from butchering animals to digging up tubers. The hand axe was a pear-shaped and roughly chipped stone tool brought to an even point, with a broad handle. The axe is one of the oldest tools used by mankind. Sometimes there is reference to a “Copper Age” as the transition period from Stone Age to Bronze Age. The Late Stone Age, which covers the period when farming became the main means of subsistence. The Early Stone Age, when humans lived by hunting and fishing, which spans the time from the first production of stone tools around 2.5 million years ago to the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000–11,000 years ago – and The name comes from the fact that most of the period’s cutting tools are made from stone.
The Stone Age is the period in human history that marks the advent of tool production.