Nine Pound Axe Head

[The Beep Goes On]

BigWaveDave and I met a detectorist named Danny at DS12 at the hotel and he had this beast with him. If I recall it's over 6000 years old and it weighs nine pounds. The usage or function seemed to be unknown. Maybe it's much older and was for killing dinosaurs

 

[robertk]

I think that belonged to Thor before he got Mjölnir.

 

[Centsless Detecting]

I mean there were supposedly "giants" in North America way back when. Seems plausible it belonged to one of them.

 

[robertk]

It could also have been a joke or novelty. I mean, I have a coffee mug that weighs 20 kilos, but that is not a typical thing for most humans to be using. Maybe the axe was just a showoff "just because I can" kind of thing?

 

[newnan man]

Giants lived in N. America.

 

[The Beep Goes On]

Maybe for cracking bones ... big bones ... ?

 

[Jeff H]

Perhaps it was ceremonial. 9 pounds is a lot to swing for an extended period of time. But there are plenty of people around the world that swing 10 lb. sledge hammer all day.

 

[Exhuminator]

That's a hatchet for a sasquatch.

 

[dognose]

That a nice large axe

 

[ArfieBoy]

Very cool!

 

[gravelbar]

Cripes!!! is all I can say.

 

[Hellbilly]

Id say ceremonial. With that weight you aint gonna swing it much unless you are 1 big dude

 

[Tesorodeoro]

BigWaveDave and I met a detectorist named Danny at DS12 at the hotel and he had this beast with him. If I recall it's over 6000 years old and it weighs nine pounds. The usage or function seemed to be unknown. Maybe it's much older and was for killing dinosaurs

View attachment 2246927

Well, when splitting rounds of firewood with a modern splitting maul, I prefer an 8 pound head. It’s what I have used since I was 16 years old. So you are not far off what is reasonable. A wide angled bit requires more weight. Not saying they were splitting firewood, but it would seem to have a use. I once had an all steel maul with a huge triangular head that had a steel pipe welded on it for a handle. Had to have weighed 10 pounds. Wasn’t very useful unless you had already broken your wooden handle! Don’t leave it in the sun.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

 

[Ed144]

I told my buddies I'm cutting back. I can drink only one beer when we get together to talk motorcycles. I brought a 1-gallon can of Heineken.......

 

[ToddsPoint]

The key to pecking out an axe is finding the correct type of stone that is very close in shape to the finished artifact. The closer the shape of the preform to the finished product, the faster it can be made. This is especially true for larger axes or celts. I’d guess that 9 lb axe looked a whole lot like an axe to begin with. A glacial erratic that basically just needed a bit and a groove pecked in. I have made both axes and celts by pecking and polishing.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

It could also have been a joke or novelty. I mean, I have a coffee mug that weighs 20 kilos, but that is not a typical thing for most humans to be using. Maybe the axe was just a showoff "just because I can" kind of thing?

Takes too long to peck, and too many have been found to be a joke, I have couple heavy ones myself.

 

[russau]

Joke or not , Id pick it up and bring it home

 

[WoodsDigger]

BigWaveDave and I met a detectorist named Danny at DS12 at the hotel and he had this beast with him. If I recall it's over 6000 years old and it weighs nine pounds. The usage or function seemed to be unknown. Maybe it's much older and was for killing dinosaurs

View attachment 2246927

Cmon ....holy dinasour bone marrow chopper.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

If I remember some of the research books I read years ago correctly, the Native Americans used heavy stone pounders and heavy stone hammers to pulverize the buffalo bones to extract the marrow.

Single kill, maybe not a big deal, but when dealing with a dozen or more kills a lot of work there if using light weight hammers. Bulls were huge with very dense bones..