Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

tom hyle · 18th June 2005, 04:34 AM

Well, in N American terms that sounds VERY similar to a type of long claw hammer, which I think is called a wrecking hammer, with a typical 1" or so face, and quite handy, and also to a fairly common type of hatchet I don't know the specifics (name or use) on. Again, it is of a markedly similar size to numbers of African hatchets, whose cutting edges are often much narrower (as indeed are many old axes from around the world; have you seen the "Ice man's" axe, for instance?) I see nothing impractical in tool terms, though the iron band may suggest a weapon; I'm not out to say it is a tool, but it's not an impractical one, whereas in a weapon, that kind of weight in the blade would be counterfunctional speedwise, though it might be useful against armour, etc. I should go look at the club more; I remember it looking quite similar, and I personally can not place this style of work geographically with any meaning; Africa is in the air, and seems to match both a round section axe handle and the metal wrap style.
One thing about fighting axes, too, is that they may sometimes be meant for taking apart buildings/doors/defences/etc. as much as for cutting animals; think of European boarding axes.

18th June 2005, 04:34 AM	#14
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Well, in N American terms that sounds VERY similar to a type of long claw hammer, which I think is called a wrecking hammer, with a typical 1" or so face, and quite handy, and also to a fairly common type of hatchet I don't know the specifics (name or use) on. Again, it is of a markedly similar size to numbers of African hatchets, whose cutting edges are often much narrower (as indeed are many old axes from around the world; have you seen the "Ice man's" axe, for instance?) I see nothing impractical in tool terms, though the iron band may suggest a weapon; I'm not out to say it is a tool, but it's not an impractical one, whereas in a weapon, that kind of weight in the blade would be counterfunctional speedwise, though it might be useful against armour, etc. I should go look at the club more; I remember it looking quite similar, and I personally can not place this style of work geographically with any meaning; Africa is in the air, and seems to match both a round section axe handle and the metal wrap style. One thing about fighting axes, too, is that they may sometimes be meant for taking apart buildings/doors/defences/etc. as much as for cutting animals; think of European boarding axes. Last edited by tom hyle; 18th June 2005 at 11:08 AM.