A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and European settlers later introduced heads of iron and steel. The term came into the English language in the 17th century as an adaptation of the Powhatan word.
Pipe tomahawk
Modern commercial tomahawk
Tomahawk, Oglala, Lakota, Sioux (Native American), late 19th-early 20th century, Brooklyn Museum
Nez Perce tomahawk
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
