The shaft-hole axes
The shaft-hole axes were made using various stones, although not flint, and were more likely to be status weapons or ceremonial objects. Examples of these include the boat axes used in the Battle Axe cultures of Europe in around 3200–1800 BC (read more about the Battle Axe culture below).
The polygonal axe is a kind of battle axe that belongs to the Late Stone Age and dates to around 3000–3400 BC. It is usually made from greenstone or some other exclusive stone, and is fitted with a shaft hole. It also tends to have various special features, such as a flared edge, an arched butt, an angled body, grooves and ridges. The features are hammered out and then polished across the whole surface. The polygonal axe is seen as a copy of the Central European copper axes, but even in these areas, polygonal axes of various kinds have been found.
The double-headed battle axe is a shaft-hole axe from around 3400–2900 BC. It occurred mainly around Rügen in Germany and on Zealand in Denmark, as the Battle Axe culture established itself in the surrounding areas. The axe has a flared edge that became very prominent among the later types, which also gained a flared butt. The double-edged axes were always made from hard and homogeneous stones such as porphyry, and they were also finely polished.
The boat axe is an old name for the shaft-hole axe of the Swedish-Norwegian Battle Axe culture that is now simply referred to as the battle axe. In recent years, the purpose of the battle axe as a weapon has been called into question, not least because the shaft hole is sometimes so small that it could not be attached to a sufficiently strong handle. It may then have served a ceremonial purpose and as an identity marker for the upper echelons of society. Similar axes appeared across a large swathe of North-Eastern Europe, although there are clear differences in the details between different cultural areas.
The Battle Axe culture (c. 3200–1800 BC)
The Battle Axe culture (c. 3200–1800 BC), also referred to as the Boat Axe culture in older literature, is a relatively uniform archaeological culture that occurs in an area of Southern Sweden-Norway that stretches from Bornholm and Skåne in the south up to Uppland in the north and along the Norwegian coast up to Central Norway. It is a regional variant of the Corded Ware culture that occurred in North-Eastern Europe during the third century BC. In addition to the battle axes that gave the culture its name and the typical ceramic pots, there are a number of other objects that are characteristic of the culture. These include flint adzes and chisels, which are commonly hollow-edged.
