Axe
The axe is a tool with a metallic edge that is securely fixed to a handle, usually made of wood, whose purpose is to cut by blows.
The typical use for axes is to cut firewood and fell trees, but in the past they were used as weapons for hunting and war, especially by the Vikings, Russians, Incas, English, French, etc., who were used as battle ax and tomahawk from Neolithic times, or throwing axes (francisca, tomahawk).
Origin
The origin of the ax must be located in prehistory. The earliest examples of hand axes date back to 1.6 million years in the Late Olduvai period, in southern Ethiopia around 1.4 million years ago, and in 1.2 million year old deposits in the Olduvai Gorge. Silica stones cut into amygdaloid shape, and diorite or basalt stones polished at one or both ends, and sometimes with a notch in the middle, were fastened with strong ties to a stick, forming a right angle with it, and they served as an offensive weapon in fights between men or against wild animals. The hammer axes from Denmark are very remarkable, with a hole in the center.
In the Bronze Age, axes similar to the Neolithic ones were made of this metal or copper, casting them in stone molds. Copper axes were also attached to a pole, through slots and a handle, or attached to it by means of a kind of tube that acted as a handle. Both the Persians and the Egyptians used bronze or iron axes as combat weapons, as some have been found in Pharaonic tombs and others are depicted in paintings. Likewise, they were also used by the pre-Hellenic peoples, as shown by the findings made in the excavations of Troy.
The Greeks hardly used them. The Romans used them a lot to cut the limbs of the auxiliary troops and as a badge of the lictors, who carried the double-edged ax inside their fasces. It was also a weapon of the Germans and the Franks, and in the Middle Ages it was very much in vogue in European armies, bearing a great deal of resemblance to the tool of the same name. But from the end of the 14th century it took the double form of spear and axe, later being confused with the halberd. Towards the middle or end of the 17th century it ceased to be a popular combat weapon in Europe, except in the navy, with the so-called boarding axe.
Firefighters use axes to step through doors and windows in fires
Warrior mochica equipped with axe and shield
Axes are used in sports such as aizkolari, cutting trunks, and throwing axe.
The Disasters of War"The same." Francisco de Goya reflects in his graphic work the brutality and barbarism that came to the war of Spanish independence.
On the left, an incay captain carrying an axe. They denoted prestige and rank within the inca army
Viking axe blades
Execution by decapitation with axe
Traditional Bantu axe
Parts of the axe
The ax has two main components: the "head" of the ax and the "handle".
Ax Head
The "axe head" it is usually delimited by the "tip" (or blade) at one end and the "tip" on the other, although some designs have two opposing points. The top corner of the bit where the cutting edge begins is called the 'toe', and the bottom corner is known as the 'heel'. Either side of the head is called the "cheek", which is sometimes complemented by "hoops" where the head meets the handle, and the hole where the handle is mounted is called the 'eye'. The part of the bit that descends below the rest of the ax head is called a "beard", and a "skeggöx" Viking is an old-fashioned ax head with an exaggerated beard that can sometimes extend the cutting edge twice the height of the rest of the head.
Ax Handle
The haft of the axe is sometimes called the handle. Traditionally, it was made of a strong hardwood such as hickory or ash, but modern axes often have handles made of durable synthetic materials. Ancient axes and their modern reproductions, such as the tomahawk, often had a simple, straight handle with a circular cross section that fit into the ax head without the aid of wedges or pins. Modern handles are curved for a better grip and to aid in the swinging motion, and are securely mounted to the head. The "shoulder" this is where the head mounts to the handle, and this is a long oval or rectangular cross section of the handle that is secured to the head of the ax with small metal or wooden wedges. The "belly" of the handle is the longest part, where it arches gently, and the throat is where it curves sharply into the short "grip", just before the end of the handle, which is known as the knot.
Symbolism, ritual and folklore
At least since the Late Neolithic, elaborate axes (tomahawks, T-axes, etc.) had religious significance and probably indicated the exalted status of their owner. Some types hardly ever show signs of wear; Middle Neolithic deposits of unhandled ax blades (such as the Somerset Levels in Britain) may have been offered to deities.
In Minoan Crete, the labrys (double axe) had a special meaning. The double ax dates from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.
In 1998, a labrys, with an elaborately embellished handle, was found in Cham-Eslen, Canton of Zug, Switzerland. The handle is 120 cm long and wrapped in ornaments. The ax blade is 17.4 cm long and made of serpentine, mined from the Gotthard area. The handle has a biconical hole drilled, attached to horns, by pressure, and to birch pitch. It belongs to the early Cortaillod Neolithic culture.
In the fasces of ancient Rome, the ax symbolized the authority to execute and were often used as symbols of Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini.
In folklore, it was believed that stone axes were thunderbolts, which is why they were used to protect buildings from lightning, since mythically it was thought that lightning would always strike twice in the same place. This caused some kinks in the ax distribution.
Iron axes were also important in superstition. A throwing ax could keep a hailstorm at bay. Sometimes the axes were placed in the crops, with their tips pointing to the sky, to protect the crops from bad weather. An upright ax buried under the sill of a house would keep witchcraft away, while an ax under the bed would ensure male offspring.
Basques, Australians and New Zealanders developed variants of rural sports that perpetuated the traditions of logging with an axe. The Basque variants, splitting trunks arranged horizontally or vertically, are generically called aizkolaritza (from aizkora: axe).
In Yoruba mythology, the oshe (double-headed axe) symbolizes Changó, the Orisha (god) of thunder and lightning. It is said to represent swift and balanced justice. The Changó altar often contains the carved figure of a woman holding a present for the god with a double-bladed ax driven into her head.
Axes were symbols of power in the Andean cultural area and particularly in the Inca Empire. The topayauri, an Inca scepter, was an ax similar to a halberd and made of gold. Ceremonial axes used to be decorated with zoomorphic and/or abstract iconographic motifs.
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