The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.
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We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Skip to main content. Updated 15 July, - ancient-origins. Read Later Print. References Katsuhiro Sano et al. Login or Register in order to comment. Top New Stories. Through the process of greater efficiency, the human brain size began to shrink about 3, years ago and this is a huge new revelation in human evolution.
The latest research study conclusions suggest that specializations in labor or task-based work. If stories of King Arthur and his knights are based on real people their DNA markers should still be with us today. The Four Mythological Symbols of China. Human Origins. Ancient Technology. The blade was flared and the sides were often decorated with spiral or angular patterns.
It was mounted in the split end of a wooden handle and tied into place with leather straps. Iron age axes from around BC in Europe were basically the same as bronze and stone axes reproduced in iron. However, the new materials and designs including the strength and thickness of metals, led the appearance of the axes to change gradually. Non-shaft-hole axes disappeared and were replaced by axes with a hole for a handle. Axes Used in Battle. The first axes used in battle were the same that were used in everyday life.
It was only later, around AD, with the advent of iron, that the focus shifted to developing specific axes for fighting. Franziska axe was an early, smaller axe similar to the modern hatchets, that was specifically designed for battle, however it was also useful in the hunt. The axe heads were thick and sharp with a distinct short handle. It was effective mostly as a hand weapon in close combat, yet its design allowed it to be thrown as a projectile. However, most combatants most likely kept a firm grip on their prized weapon so as not to be left standing unarmed.
When thrown, it would frequently be at a distance of ten or twelve paces from the enemy, yet could still be deadly at larger distances. Because of its unusual shape, when correctly thrown, a Franziska rotated a number of times in the air before the axe blade hit its target. It rotated once at four to five meters, twice at eight to nine meters, and three times at a distance of twelve to thirteen meters. Though carried into battle, these axes were very useful as a projectile during the hunt.
When game was spotted, it could, like the spear, be thrown quickly and quietly from a distance with great precision. And once thrown, even if the target was missed, it could be retrieved without threat of attack from an enemy.
Nordic smiths developed these axes with longer handles and thinner blades, making the axe head extra light so as to be readily carried into battle and not wear out the warrior through use.
This type of axe was commonly in use during the Battle of Hastings in England as both Franks and Anglo Saxon Housecarls carried them into battle as documented in the Bayeux Tapestry.
Light axes on long shafts , known as Hunganian Fokos axes, were carried by 10 th century Hungarian warriors The Bulgarians also used a similar design. The axe was used as a versatile tool that served as a small axe, hammer, and walking stick.
These axes became inseparable from shepherds throughout Europe which included heavy, personalized decorative straps. Predecessor to the Hatchet , during the European Middle Ages and Renaissance 11 th to the 16 th centuries , was a small axe with a short handle which was often carried on the belt. They were more refined than its earlier model — Franziska axes. Find out more about page archiving.
Home Explore Programmes Topics About. Hide image caption Show image caption. About this object. Podcast A History of the World in Objects. Westland Lynx helicopter. Handaxes are large stone cobbles which have been roughly worked on both sides—what is known as "bifacially worked"--into a wide variety of shapes. Shapes seen in handaxes are lanceolate narrow and thin like a laurel leaf , ovate flatly oval , orbiculate close to circular , or something in between.
Some are pointed, or at least relatively pointy on one end, and some of those pointed ends are quite tapered. Some handaxes are triangular in cross-section, some are flat: in fact, there is considerable variability within the category.
Early handaxes, those made before about , years ago, are simpler and coarser than the later ones, which evidence finer flaking. There are several disagreements in the archaeological literature about handaxes, but the primary one is about their function—what were these tools used for?
Most scholars think handaxes were deliberately shaped, but a minority argue that if one resharpens the same rough tool over and over eventually it forms a handaxe. Experimental archaeologists Alastair Key and colleagues compared the angles of the edges on ancient handaxes to others they experimentally reproduced and used.
Their evidence suggests that at least some of the edges show wear indicating the long edges of the handaxes were used to cut wood or other material. The Acheulean handaxe is named after the Saint Acheul archaeological site in the lower Sommes valley of France where the tools were first discovered n the 's. The earliest Acheulean handaxe yet found is from the Kokiselei 4 site in the Rift valley of Kenya , dated about 1.
The earliest handaxe technology outside of Africa was identified at two cave sites in Spain, Solana del Zamborino, and Estrecho del Quipar, dated about , years ago. Early handaxes have been associated with our hominid ancestor Homo erectus in Africa and Europe. The later ones seem to be associated with both H. Several hundred thousand handaxes have been recorded from the Old World, including Africa, Europe, and Asia.
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