axes in Madagascar

[Ren Ren]

This makes the ax easier to see

[kronckew]

looks more like a sickle

[Ren Ren]

Originally Posted by kronckew

looks more like a sickle

Two Laotian axes from "Le musée du quai Branly" in Paris
https://www.quaibranly.fr/fr/explore...ancier/page/1/
https://www.quaibranly.fr/fr/explore...-hache/page/1/
The archaic construction is clearly visible from the Bronze Age.

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Ren Ren

Two Laotian axes from "Le musée du quai Branly" in Paris

The archaic construction is clearly visible from the Bronze Age.

Oh, Serge, did you have a trump card up your sleeve?

Do you have any ideas how the Celtic bronze axe in the Bronze Age got to Laos?

[Ren Ren]

There was no trump card in my sleeve I had to look in someone else's sleeve.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Ren Ren

There was no trump card in my sleeve I had to look in someone else's sleeve.

OK, so the 'Balance Axe' is also a bit weird, iron head and not Bronze Age. And it doesn't have an extened haft to get in the way of chopping, tho why they have the long wood counter-weight is also a bit unclear.

[kronckew]

re-ren, the axe's haft in your post is not Bronze Age. As noted in the video I posted, wood doesn't survive from that old. Except now some has... at Must Farm.


See below for a better 'reconstruction' — and some just found in an English bog* where the wood actually WAS preserved along with a bunch of (20) socketed axe heads. They attached the head to a branch off the main tree trunk along with a trimmed section of the trunk which formed a bent elbow.



They also found a bunch of other stuff, tools, swords, etc. in remarkable condition. Just a bit of mud keeping them from looking new.

Top: reconstruction
Middle: found haft — they found a bunch just like this.
Bottom: Axe heads.

Edited: Added one they found with an intact haft


*- Must Farm, UK dig.

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Ren Ren

This makes the ax easier to see

It doesn't seem like an axe to me either.
This photo shows that the working part is wooden.
But in his right hand he has an axe according to its functionality.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Saracen

It doesn't seem like an axe to me either.
This photo shows that the working part is wooden.
But in his right hand he has an axe according to its functionality.

Right hand: That's a Mak, an SEA agricultural tool. he's using the unsharpened edge to hammer with. (Or he's cutting Upwards)


Like mine: Also a temple fresco showing them used as a military weapon.

note: the cutting edge is not where you would expect It's the lower (concave) edge on mine and similar items. The upper edge is a broad flat spine.

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by kronckew

that's a mak, an SEA agricultural tool...
note: the cutting edge is not where you would expect

Thank you, kronckew

[kronckew]

Some background info which y'all probably know already...



Historic Axe construction video by Matt Easton, who is a HEMA instructor and also sells historic antique edged weapons.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7s3G0o4XD8


Also includes comments on non-European 'ethnic' axe construction.

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Saracen

It doesn't seem like an axe to me either.
This photo shows that the working part is wooden.
But in his right hand he has an axe according to its functionality.

they are axes..this is how axes in thailand cambodia and laos once looked.. in flea markets there you can find the blades and ive seem some people in isolated areas with a similar type in laos... i think the length of the head of the ax helps with give it it a powerful cut that dosnt rebound.. it gives inertia .. like the axes in papua new guinea which also use a smaller sort of T section head. ..

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by ausjulius

they are axes..this is how axes in thailand cambodia and laos once looked..

Yes, I know that now. Thank you for the information and links. I like to learn new things. I also think that two handles for an axe are better than one. One handle is for rough, traditional work, the second for more precise, fine, like a chisel.

PS: RenRen, thank you too)

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Saracen

Yes, I know that now. Thank you for the information and links. I like to learn new things. I also think that two handles for an axe are better than one. One handle is for rough, traditional work, the second for more precise, fine, like a chisel.

PS: RenRen, thank you too)

no worries new things are most fascinating.. i understand your confusion about it not looking like an axe at all.. its VERY - unaxe-like..

back to the Madagascan question the only thing i can think of is it is indeed some sort of sop so they can cut near the ground without hitting the blade?

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Saracen

It doesn't seem like an axe to me either.
This photo shows that the working part is wooden.
But in his right hand he has an axe according to its functionality.

champa people making this axe in cambodia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40xKsh1tfJg

here he is making the axe .... but i think he just makes it for the first time maybe.. but as mentioned in my other post there is a video of people making these to use recently.. in laos .

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by ausjulius

champa people making this axe in cambodia. ...

Cool. Seems rather complex way of making an axe, I can't see what the advantage is. I accept that there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat.

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Cool. Seems rather complex way of making an axe, I can't see what the advantage is. I accept that there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat.

hahaha yeah me neither.. but its the way they did it .. probably its just a vestigial thing from the stone age that survived.. humans can be persistent in things even when there is better options..