Hello Jim and thank you for coming in on this one! For once, I'm glad to hear this isn't what I thought it might be!
Usually, I'll jump the gun and take a chance. If it had some maritime provenance, it would have been worth quite a bit.
Please note that the pic posted by Interested Party is NOT the piece in question, but still, if you can see the auction post, there are definately no solid answers. An adze or perhaps a 'climbing' mountaineer axe might be the best suggestion. I wish I could have gotten the pics to post for future reference, as more floks over time might be able to solidly pinpoint this odd fellow down!