Axe
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An axe is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split, and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, also called a haft or a helve.
Double- and single-bit felling axes.
A collection of bronze socketed axe blades from the Bronze Age found in Germany. This was the prime tool of the period, and also seems to have been used as a store of value.
Bronze socketed axe from the Heppeneert hoard (Belgium), about 800 BCE, collection of the King Baudouin Foundation, Gallo-Roman Museum (Tongeren)
Roman axes in an ancient Roman relief in Brescia, Italy
Hand axe
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A hand axe is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is made from stone, usually flint or chert that has been "reduced" and shaped from a larger piece by knapping, or hitting against another stone. They are characteristic of the lower Acheulean and middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) periods, roughly 1.6 million years ago to about 100,000 years ago, and used by Homo erectus and other early humans, but rarely by Homo sapiens.
Flint hand axe found in Winchester
Acheulean hand axes from Kent. The types shown are (clockwise from top) chordate, ficron and ovate.
Typical Acheulean hand axe
The Sima de los Huesos hand axe 15.5 cm (6 in) tall is finely crafted and made out of a rare stone, which may indicate symbolic meaning.