[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989) › v1.c11.s2.1 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s2.1 An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s2.1 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c11.s2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.1) ‘The axe is to drive into wood, to split it; the adze is to take a thin slip off a larger mass. The axe usually has a short body and means of pulling it back or twisting it loose from the grip of the cloven wood; the adze has a long body and (in ancient times) only a weak attachment to the handle, as it was never struck in deeply. The axe is thick in order to bear shock and carry weight; the adze is thinner, strength not being required. These various differences were not all developed fully at first.’ (Petrie, 1917, p. 5). It therefore follows that the axe is a tool for hewing, cleaving or chopping trees or wood (it could be designed for killing purposes as well \[19.2.5\], whereas the adze is a carpenter’s tool—a sort of an axe with the blade set at right angles to the handle and curved towards it—used for cutting, slicing or planing the surface of wood. - [Previous: v1.c11.s1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s1.5) - [Next: v1.c11.s2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.2) - [Up: v1.c11.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.1) · Pramāṇa