Looking at the whole series, it seems probable that they were intended to serve more than one purpose, and that while the adze- like instruments may have been tools either for agriculture or for carpentry, and the large heavy axe-hammers also served some analogous purposes, the smaller class of instruments, whether sharpened at both ends or at one only, may with some degree of certainty be regarded as weapons. That the perforated form of axe was of later invention than the solid stone hatchet is almost self- evident; and that many of the battle-axe class belong to a period when bronze was coming into use is well established. That all instruments of this form belong to so late a period there is no evidence to prove; but in other countries where perforated axes are common, as in Scandinavia and Switzerland, those who have most carefully studied the antiquities, find reason for assigning a considerable number to a period when the use of bronze was unknown. On the other hand, it is possible that in some instances the large heavy axe-hammer may have remained in use even in the days when bronze and iron were well known. Sir W. Wilde mentions one in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy, 1034 inches long, which is said to have been recently in use. Canon Greenwell had another which was used for felling pigs in Yorkshire. Such, however, may be but instances of adapting ancient implements, accidentally met with, to modern uses.
I have already, in the description of the various figures, mentioned when analogous forms were found in other parts of Western Europe, so that it is needless again to cite instances of discoveries on the Continent. I may, however, notice a curious series from Northern Russia and Finland.[1] They are for the most part pointed at one end, the other being sometimes carved to represent the head of an animal. Some are pointed at each end. In several there is a projection on both sides of the shaft-hole, designed to add strength to a weak part, but at the same time made ornamental. The animal's head occurs also on bronze axes.
Out of Europe this class of perforated instruments is almost unknown.
Turning to modern savages, the comparative absence of perforated axes is striking. In North America, it is true that some specimens occur, but the material is usually too soft for cutting purposes, and the haft-holes are so small that the handles would
- ↑ Mém. Soc. R. des Ant. du Nord, 1872-77, p. 107. Aarbög. for Oldk., 1872, d. 309-342. Cong. préh. Stockholm, 1874, p. 290. Aspelin, "Ant. du Nord. Finno-Ougrien," No. 71-76.
