Colonial-era spike axe/tomahawk

M ELEY · 9th August 2005, 05:17 AM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6193507374

M ELEY · 9th August 2005, 05:39 AM

Picked up this nice item for a steal. I got it because it looked similar to many of the boarding axes from the early 19th century. Turns out this spike axe dates to late 18th/early 19th century and could have been carried by anyone from a soldier, trapper, frontiersman or Native American (contrary to popular belief, American Indians traded and used axes such as these just as much or more than the classic tomahawk). These early axes were weapons as well as tools and not treated as respectibly as other bladed weapons. They were badly treated and many don't survive. The blade on this one has an old rivet repair. The notch in the head might be a trap chain pull apparently used to set early fur traps. I think these items make an interesting 'ethnographic' touch to a collection, as no two are completely alike.

Justin · 9th August 2005, 03:29 PM

oops posted twice....

Justin · 9th August 2005, 03:32 PM

Very cool axe,congratulations! It seems that many cultures found that their everyday work axes worked especially well on people too.

Ive been hesitant to buy anything that could be a 'tomahawk' from ebay,it seems that this is another weapon favored by forgers and Im definately not able to tell the good ones from the not so good.

Rick · 9th August 2005, 04:02 PM

Hi Mark , that notch may also be for pulling nails as these were a very valuable commodity in Early America and elsewhere .
In those far away times decrepit houses and ships were often burned as a way to recover the nails used in their construction .

/just speculating .

Gt Obach · 9th August 2005, 04:57 PM

oddly.... I can't help but think that the rivet repair was actually intensional...

my thoughts are that this is the way the axe was made..
- if the axe was made of wrought iron..... which is fiberous... the fibers will split generally in the direction they are heading.....
- in other words.. the split should be perpendicular to that one on the axe..

well.. this is just my idea.......

Greg

M ELEY · 10th August 2005, 09:30 PM

Justin-
My point exactly concerning fakes- see my post under Chinese fakes. They are getting to be very numerous. I find these particularly insulting, because they are such treasured Native American artifacts and considering what we did to them as a people, this is a double wamie...

Rick-
Excellent point as well. I forgot to mention that angle. I hadn't thought about the sheer scarcity of man-made nails back in those times. I'm told true nail production throughout the western world began around 1801, so this fits.

Greg-
Interesting point, and I don't know enough about smithing to land an oppinion. Would riviting like this have been around pre-1840 or so, I wonder? How would the rivit/plug be put in place?

9th August 2005, 05:17 AM	#1
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Colonial-era spike axe/tomahawk http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6193507374

9th August 2005, 05:39 AM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Picked up this nice item for a steal. I got it because it looked similar to many of the boarding axes from the early 19th century. Turns out this spike axe dates to late 18th/early 19th century and could have been carried by anyone from a soldier, trapper, frontiersman or Native American (contrary to popular belief, American Indians traded and used axes such as these just as much or more than the classic tomahawk). These early axes were weapons as well as tools and not treated as respectibly as other bladed weapons. They were badly treated and many don't survive. The blade on this one has an old rivet repair. The notch in the head might be a trap chain pull apparently used to set early fur traps. I think these items make an interesting 'ethnographic' touch to a collection, as no two are completely alike.

9th August 2005, 03:29 PM	#3
Justin Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 178	oops posted twice....

9th August 2005, 03:32 PM	#4
Justin Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 178	Very cool axe,congratulations! It seems that many cultures found that their everyday work axes worked especially well on people too. Ive been hesitant to buy anything that could be a 'tomahawk' from ebay,it seems that this is another weapon favored by forgers and Im definately not able to tell the good ones from the not so good.

9th August 2005, 04:02 PM	#5
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,336	Hi Mark , that notch may also be for pulling nails as these were a very valuable commodity in Early America and elsewhere . In those far away times decrepit houses and ships were often burned as a way to recover the nails used in their construction . /just speculating .

9th August 2005, 04:57 PM	#6
Gt Obach Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 116	oddly.... I can't help but think that the rivet repair was actually intensional... my thoughts are that this is the way the axe was made.. - if the axe was made of wrought iron..... which is fiberous... the fibers will split generally in the direction they are heading..... - in other words.. the split should be perpendicular to that one on the axe.. well.. this is just my idea....... Greg

10th August 2005, 09:30 PM	#7
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Justin- My point exactly concerning fakes- see my post under Chinese fakes. They are getting to be very numerous. I find these particularly insulting, because they are such treasured Native American artifacts and considering what we did to them as a people, this is a double wamie... Rick- Excellent point as well. I forgot to mention that angle. I hadn't thought about the sheer scarcity of man-made nails back in those times. I'm told true nail production throughout the western world began around 1801, so this fits. Greg- Interesting point, and I don't know enough about smithing to land an oppinion. Would riviting like this have been around pre-1840 or so, I wonder? How would the rivit/plug be put in place?