[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 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s2: 6.2 Axes and Adzes (Metallic) An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s2 - **Language:** English ### 6.2 Axes and Adzes (Metallic) ### [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. ### [v1.c11.s2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.2) The earliest specimen of copper axes has been found in the pre-Harappa levels at KALIBANGAN. The celts or blade-axes of the Harappa civilization are invariably flat. The specimens made of hard bronze or hammered copper are of two types: long and narrow or short and broad. Long and narrow axes, with a crescentic working end, double convex in section, straight slightly rounded butt, the thick middle portion having parallel-sided blades, are more frequent than the short and broad ones with splayed edges. ### [v1.c11.s2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.3) Shaft-hole axes, representing a superior technology, have two terracotta models at Mohenjo-daro (Mackay, 1938, 1, pp. 458-9) and may thus have not been altogether unknown to the Indus people, particularly as a bronze specimen occurs in the upper levels of Mohenjo-daro (Mackay, \*ibid\*). On the ground that a bronze shaft-hole axe has been found in the (post-Harappa) Jhukar level of Chanhu-daro (Mackay, 1943, p. 188) and a copper one in the Shahi Tump cemetery (Stein, 1931) it has been thought that the type was introduced into the subcontinent as a result of some foreign invasion (Allchin, 1968, p. 146), but such an inference may be unjustified. Trunnion axes such as the ones found at Shalozan in the Kurram valley and in Gilgit Karakoram never became popular in India. ### [v1.c11.s2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.4) Flat axes of copper continued to be used in the Chalcolithic period as is evident from NEVASA, JORWE, CHANDOLI and NAVDATOLI. The types are more or less akin to the finds in other cultures. The specimens from NEVASA have a triangular, roughly lenticular section with a flat butt end, resembling the types found at JORWE, NEVASA and NAVDATOLI. ### [v1.c11.s2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.5) Copper axes, sometimes with prominent shoulders, have been reported from sites like BAHADARBAD, BISAULI, RAJPUR PARSU, SARTHAULI, BIJNOR, Mainpuri, BITHUR and PONDI, all as parts of Copper Hoards \[4.11\]. They are simple, flat and parallel-sided with unsplayed, straight or semicircular edges, having a pronounced shoulder; some specimens have tapering sides towards the butt and splayed edges. Double-axes, produced out of elliptical copper sheets by the cutting off of large arcs from both the longer sides of the ellipse, also form part of the Copper Hoard equipment as is evidenced from the finds of a few such axes at PARIHATI, Dt Midnapur, where they are found along with such typical Copper Hoard implements as bar celts. Copper double-axes also occur in the Chalcolithic levels of HALLUR. This requires a revision of the theory that such axes from Bhagrapir, Dt Mayurbhanj, were products of the historical period for the inscribing of land grants (Gordon, 1958, p. 145). ### [v1.c11.s2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.6) The axes from the PGW levels \[4.15\] of NOH and ATRANJIKHERA are made of iron and are mostly with a shaft-hole. Iron axes were also used by the megalith builders of c. \[4.17.6\] and s. \[4.17.10\] India and the lower Deccan \[4.17.9\], as is evident from finds from KHAPA, TAKALGHAT, GANGAPUR, JUNAPANI, SANUR, ADICHANALLUR, BRAHMAGIRI and MASKI. These are of two main types: one is elongated with a thick rectangular or oblong section, convex butt end and straight, broad working end; the other has a broad body, convex but flat butt end, sharp convex working end with detachable ring-fasteners for hafting. ### [v1.c11.s2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.7) The early historical cultures have yielded shaft-hole iron axes with splayed edges. Specimens are reported from PRAKASH, BAHAL, NASIK and RAIRH. An example from NASIK is of the socketed type. They spread to the s. during the 1st millennium A.D. and continued later on (11th century), as is evident from PRAKASH. ### [v1.c11.s2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.8) Compared to axes, the evidence of adzes is scanty and not very dependable. It appears that axes described as ‘long and narrow’ might have served the purpose of adzes as well in the Harappa culture \[4.9\]. The Chalcolithic cultures \[4.14\], however, have not yielded any specimen. Specimens made of iron sheets have been discovered from the Megalithic tombs of KHAPA, TAKALGHAT, GANGAPUR and KOTIA. They are double concave with a convex section of the body and a rectangular section and compressed mid-portion. In all probability these were used for cutting leather. Some specimens of iron of the early historical period have been reported from RAIRH, HASTINĀPURA, VAIŚĀLĪ and NEVASA. The NEVASA specimen has a flat side with a tang fixed at an angle to the wooden handle, the like of which \*mutatis mutandis\* continued even in the later ages. ### [v1.c11.s2.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2.9) Allchin, B. & R., 1968, \*Birth of Indian Civilization\*, Harmondsworth. Gordon, D.H., 1958, \*Prehistoric Background of Indian Culture\*, Bombay. Mackay, E.J.H., 1938, \*Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro\*, Delhi; 1943, \*Chanhu-daro Excavations 1935-6\*, New Haven. Petrie, F., 1917, \*Tools & Weapons\*, London. Stein, A., 1931, \*Archaeological Tour in Gedrosia\*, Mem. ASI, 43. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—A. BANERJI ## Linked texts (22) - [Mohenjo-daro](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.mohenjo-daro) - [Kālībangan](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.kalibangan) - [Chanhu-daro](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.chanhu-daro) - [Hastināpura](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.hastinapura) - [Atranjikhera](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.atranjikhera) - [Vaiśālī](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.vaisali) - [Nevasa](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.nevasa) - [Nāsik](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.nasik) - [Maski](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.maski) - [Ādichanallūr](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.adichanallur) - [Navdatoli](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.navdatoli) - [Prakash](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.prakash) - [Bahal](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.bahal) - [Noh](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.noh) - [Khapa](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.khapa) - [Takalghat](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.takalghat) - [Shalozan](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.shalozan) - [Shāhī-tump](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.shahi-tump) - [Sarthauli](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.sarthauli) - [Bijnor](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.bijnor) - [Parihati](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.parihati) - [Mainpur](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.mainpur) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c11.s2) · Pramāṇa