DOI: 10.71853/g5bp-s457
title: Amber skeuomorphs of the heads of axes and battle-axes

description: <p>The figures illustrate examples of axe-shaped objects made in amber and their counterparts made in stone, flint or copper, dating to the Neolithic and discovered around the Baltic Sea. The individual illustrations (designated with lowercase letters of the alphabet) were collected by M. Cwaliński from selected publications (cited in the captions below) and redrawn mostly by A. Dmitruczuk. </p><p>Fig. 1. Examples of axe-shaped amber beads and pendants of the Funnel Beaker culture, and their counterparts in stone and copper: a – amber (after Ebbesen Klaus, Die nordischen Bernsteinhorte der Trichterbecherkultur, “Praehistorische Zeitschrift” 1995, Bd. 70, H. 1, pp. 32–89, fig. 4:1); b – stone (after Bakker Jan A., The TRB West Group. Studies in the Chronology and Geography of the Makers of Hunebeds and Tiefstich Pottery, 2nd ed., Leiden 2009, fig. 48:f); c – amber (after Woltermann Gisela, Die prähistorischen Bernsteinartefakte aus Deutschland vom Paläolithikum bis zur Bronzezeit. Methodische Forschungen zu Lagerstättengenese, Distributions strukturen und sozioökonomischem Kontext, Universitätsforschungen zur Prähistorischen Archäologie, vol. 260, Bonn 2016, fig. 65:o); d – copper (after Skorna Henry, The Life and Journey of Neolithic Copper Objects. Transformations of the Neuenkirchen Hoard, North-East Germany (3800 BCE), Scales of Transformation, vol. 15. Leiden 2022, fig. 65:1); all drawings by A. Dmitruczuk.</p><p>Fig. 2. Axe-shaped amber object from Sandomierz (a), and its stone counterparts from the Funnel Beaker (b) and Globular Amphora (c) cultures: a – amber (after Gula Małgorzata, Bursztynowa plastyka figuralna epoki kamienia w Polsce, “Archeologia Polski” 1977, t. XXII, nr 2, pp. 369–387, fig. 4); b – stone (after Bakker Jan A., The TRB West Group. Studies in the Chronology and Geography of the Makers of Hunebeds and Tiefstich Pottery, 2nd ed., Leiden 2009, fig. 48:d); c – stone (after Beran Jonas, Nackenkammäxte und A-Äxte: eine Werkstatt – zwei Auftraggeber? [in:] Varia neolithica VIII – Dechsel, Axt, Beil und Co – Werkzeug, Waffe, Kultgegenstand? – Aktuelles aus der Neolithforschung, eds. Hans-Jürgen Beier, Ralph Einicke, Eric Biermann, Langenweissbach 2014, pp. 21–30, fig. 4); all drawings by A. Dmitruczuk, except c by the author.</p><p>Fig. 3. Examples of axe-shaped amber beads and pendants of the Globular Amphora culture, and their counterparts in flint: a – amber (after Mazurowski Ryszard F., Bursztyn w epoce kamienia na ziemiach polskich, “Materiały Starożytne i Wczesnośredniowieczne” 1983, t. V, pp. 7–130, fig. IX:50); b – amber (after Mazurowski Ryszard F., Bursztyn w epoce kamienia na ziemiach polskich, “Materiały Starożytne i Wczesnośredniowieczne” 1983, t. V, pp. 7–130, fig.XI:9); c – flint (after Boroń Tomasz, Winiarska-Kabacińska Małgorzata, Flint manufacturing of the Globular Amphorae culture at the site Wilczyce 10 (Lesser Poland) in the context of inventories from the neighbouring areas, “Archeologické rozhledy” 2021, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 163–199, fig. 6); d – flint (after Bronicki Andrzej, Grób kultury amfor kulistych w Kolonii Czułczyce, stan. 6, gm. Sawin, pow. Chełm, woj. Lublin, “Archeologia Polski Środkowowschodniej” 2000, t. 5, pp. 181–195, fig. 4:7); all drawings by A. Dmitruczuk.</p><p>Fig. 4. Examples of axe-shaped amber beads of the Corded Ware (a) and Battle Axe (b) cultures, and their counterparts in stone: a – amber (after Cwaliński Mateusz, Evolution of amber’s status and symbolism between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age: case studies from the Baltic and Adriatic Basins, “Praehistorische Zeitschrift”, in print); b – amber (after Larsson Lars, A miniature in amber of a battleaxe from the Battle-Axe Culture, “Adoranten” 2017, vol. 1, pp. 48–54, fig. 2-3); c – stone (after Libera Jerzy, Sobieraj Jarosław, Topory kamienne jako identyfikatory kultury ceramiki sznurowej w środkowej i północnej części Lubelszczyzny [in:] Schyłek neolitu na Wyżynie Lubelskiej, eds. Paweł Jarosz, Jerzy Libera, Piotr Włodarczak, Kraków 2016, pp. 411–454, fig. 3:8); d – stone (after Westrin Thomas, Stenåldern [in:] Nordisk familjebok:Konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi, ed. Th. Westrin, vol. 26, Stockholm 1917, pp. 1281–1288, fig. XXVI:12); all drawings by A. Dmitruczuk.</p>