Axe The axe ( or ax ) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape , split and cut wood ; to harvest timber ; as a weapon ; and as a or heraldic symbol . The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle , or " helve " . Before the modern axe , the stone - age hand axe was used from 1 . 5 million years BP without a handle . It was later fastened to a wooden handle . The earliest examples of handled axes have heads of stone with some form of wooden handle attached ( hafted ) in a method to suit the available materials and use . Axes made of copper , bronze , iron , steel appeared as these technologies developed . The axe is an example of a simple machine , as it is a type of wedge , or dual inclined plane . This reduces the effort needed by the wood chopper . It splits the wood into two parts by the pressure concentration at the blade . The handle of the axe also acts as a lever allowing the user to increase the force at the cutting edge — not using the full length of the handle is known as choking the axe . For fine chopping using a side axe this sometimes is a positive effect , but for felling with a double bitted axe it reduces efficiency . Generally , cutting axes have a shallow wedge angle , whereas splitting axes have a deeper angle . Most axes are double bevelled , i . e . symmetrical about the axis of the blade , but some specialist broadaxe s have a single bevel blade , and usually an offset handle that allows them to be used for finishing work without putting the user ' s knuckles at risk of injury . Less common today , they were once an integral part of a joiner and carpenter ' s tool kit , not just a tool for use in forestry . A tool of similar origin is the billhook . However in France and Holland the billhook often replaced the axe as a joiner ' s bench tool . Most modern axes have steel heads and wooden handles , typically hickory in the US and ash in Europe , although plastic or fibreglass handles are also common . Modern axes are specialised by use , size and form . Hafted axes with short handles designed for use with one hand are often called hand axes but the term hand axe refers to axes without handles as well . Hatchets tend to be small hafted axes often with a hammer on the back side ( the poll ) . As easy - to - make weapons , axes have frequently been used in combat . History . Initially axes were probably not hafted . The first true hafted axes are known from the Mesolithic period ( ca . 6000 BC ) . Axes made from ground stone are known since the Neolithic . Few wooden hafts have been found from this period , but it seems that the axe was normally hafted by wedging . Birch - tar and raw - hide lashings were used to fix the blade . Sometimes a short section of deer antler ( an " antler sleeve " ) was used , which prevented the splitting of the haft and softened the impact on the stone blade itself , helping absorb the impact of each axe blow and lessening the chances of breaking the handle . The antler was hollowed out at one end to create a socket for the axehead . The antler sheath was then either perforated and a handle inserted into it or set in a hole made in the handle instead . The distribution of stone axes is an important indication of prehistoric trade . Thin sectioning is used to determine the provenance of the stone blades . In Europe , Neolithic ' axe factories ' , where thousands of ground stone axes were roughed out are known from many places , such as : Stone axes are still produced and in use today in parts of Irian Jaya , New Guinea . The Mount Hagen area was an important production centre . From the late Neolithic / Chalcolithic onwards , axes were made of copper or copper mixed with arsenic . These axes were flat and hafted much like their stone predecessors . Axes continued to be made in this manner with the introduction of Bronze metallurgy . Eventually the hafting method changed and the flat axe developed into the ‘ flanged axe , ’ then palstave s , and later winged and socketed axes . The Proto - Indo - European word for " axe " may have been pelek ' u - ( Greek pelekus πέλεκυς , Sanskrit parashu , see also Parashurama ) , but the word was probably a loan , or a Neolithic wanderwort , ultimately related to Sumerian balag , Akkadian pilaku - . Symbolism , ritual , and folklore . At least since the late Neolithic , elaborate axes ( battle - axes , T - axes , etc . ) had a religious significance and probably indicated the exalted status of their owner . Certain types almost never show traces of wear ; deposits of unshafted axe blades from the middle Neolithic ( such as at the Somerset Levels in Britain ) may have been gifts to the deities . In Minoan Crete , the double axe ( labrys ) had a special significance , used by women priests in religious ceremonies . And the symbol refers to deification ceremonies ; part of the leaping over the bull symbol also found at Crete ; whereby aspirant becomes able to speak as a God to create any reality ; the symbol being really a sky map . In 1998 a labrys , complete with an elaborately embellished haft , was found at Cham - Eslen , Canton of Zug , Switzerland . The haft was 120 cm long and wrapped in ornamented birch - bark . The axe blade is 17 . 4 cm long and made of antigorite , mined in the Gotthard - area . The haft goes through a biconical drilled hole and is fastened by wedges of antler and by birch - tar . It belongs to the early Cortaillod culture . In the Roman " fasces " , the axe symbolised the authority to execute and were often used as symbols for Fascist Italy under Mussolini . In folklore , stone axes were sometimes believed to be thunderbolt s and were used to guard buildings against lightning , as it was believed ( mythically ) that lightning never struck the same place twice . This has caused some skewing of axe distributions . Steel axes were important in superstition as well . A thrown axe could keep off a hail storm , sometimes an axe was placed in the crops , with the cutting edge to the skies to protect the harvest against bad weather . An upright axe buried under the sill of a house would keep off witches , while an axe under the bed would assure male offspring . Basques , Australians and New Zealanders have developed variants of rural sports that perpetuate the traditions of log cutting with axe . The Basque variants , splitting horizontally or vertically disposed logs , are generically called " aizkolaritza " ( from " aizkora " : axe ) . In Yorùbá mythology , the oshe ( double - headed axe ) symbolises Shango , Orisha ( god ) of thunder and lightning . It is said to represent swift and balanced justice . Shango altars often contain a carved figure of a woman holding a gift to the god with a double - bladed axe sticking up from her head . Parts of the axe . The axe has two primary components : the axe " head " , and the " haft " . The " axe head " is typically bounded by the " bit " ( or blade ) at one end , and the " poll " ( or butt ) at the other , though some designs feature two bits opposite each other . The top corner of the bit where the cutting edge begins is called the " toe " , and the bottom corner is known as the " heel " . Either side of the head is called the " cheek " , which is sometimes supplemented by " lugs " where the head meets the haft , and the hole where the haft is mounted is called the " eye " . The part of the bit that descends below the rest of the axe - head is called the beard , and a " bearded axe " is an antiquated axe head with an exaggerated beard that can sometimes extend the cutting edge twice the height of the rest of the head . The " axe haft " is sometimes called the handle . Traditionally , it was made of a resilient hardwood like hickory or ash , but modern axes often have hafts made of durable synthetic materials . Antique axes and their modern reproductions , like the tomahawk , often had a simple , straight haft with a circular cross - section that wedged onto the axe - head without the aid of wedges or pins . Modern hafts are curved for better grip and to aid in the swinging motion , and are mounted securely to the head . The " shoulder " is where the head mounts onto the haft , and this is either a long oval or rectangular cross - section of the haft that ' s secured to the axe head with small metal or wooden wedges . The " belly " of the haft is the longest part , where it bows in gently , and the throat is where it curves sharply down to the short " grip " , just before the end of the haft , which is known as the " knob " . Hammer axe . Hammer axes ( or axe - hammers ) typically feature an extended poll , opposite the blade , shaped and sometimes hardened for use as a hammer . The name axe - hammer is often applied to a characteristic shape of perforated stone axe used in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages . Iron axe - hammers are found in Roman military contexts , e . g . Cramond , Edinburgh , and South Shields , Tyne and Wear . Today they are used in many different fields of work , completing all jobs from splitting wood to removing engines from vans . Tungsten is often added for weight as an upgrade , as well as six foot handles for the heavier jobs that require added force and " massive blows " such as cutting automobile frames , slicing brake rotors , rough body work , home construction , home de - construction , etc .