We all know what battle axes are. There is no special secret in this, because this tool is widely used today. Albeit for far from combat, but for domestic purposes. And yet, battle axes represent a whole layer of the history of edged weapons. They have been used on every continent and in many different cultures and eras. Modern archaeologists and historians know battle axes of the most diverse and bizarre forms: small and large,
thrown and close combat, with ingenious accessories and a heavy wide blade. Of course, this shock-slashing melee weapon deserves interest in itself.
Stone Age Axes
The product, apparently used for similar purposes, has existed since the dawn of human civilization. The first archaeological finds of stone tools with a cutting edge and a handle date back to the 6th millennium BC. They were used then, of course, very universally: for cutting trees, and for building dwellings, and for combat purposes. The blade of the first axes was made of stone, at first roughly, and then more and more skillfully polished.
Battle axesAntiquities
The emergence of metal mining and processing technologies has led to significant shifts in the material culture of mankind. This was reflected in all spheres of people's life, but military affairs took on a special form. After all, it was then that the first real melee weapons appeared. The oldest metal
battle axes were made of bronze - such were found during excavations of the states of Mesopotamia and Babylonia, in Ancient Egypt, later in the Scythian steppes and Celtic Europe.
At the same time, such weapons for antiquity were quite expensive and not as common as it might seem to a modern man in the street. They were, rather, a tool of military leaders, later they began to be used by infantrymen. Even then, axes acquired a significant variation in their forms. So, in ancient Greece, a heavy double-sided ax - labris was popular. His image can often be seen on copies of the paintings of ancient Greek amphoras. At the same time, among the nomadic peoples of the steppes, such as the Scythians or Sarmatians, small battle axes, which were armed with riders, became widespread.
Cold weapons of the Middle Ages
At this time, edged weapons reach their highest flowering and sophistication in their design. So, at the beginning of the era, among many Germanic tribes, a small throwing instrument became popular, which was even shorter than the arm of a warrior - Francis. The battle ax of the Slavs in the early Middle Ages was also often small, but the distributionplate armor leads to its weighting. Any compatriot at least once saw in the museum one of the branches of the finished evolution of this weapon of war - reeds. By the way, contacts with the Scandinavians and the popular battle axes of the Vikings - axes, contributed to this evolution. Western European glaives and halberds are also the result of the development of these weapons. But at the same time, swords are a serious competitor to axes. However, the greater ergonomics of the former, their versatility, greater impact power in close combat, effectiveness against armor and simply cheapness led to the fact that they were never supplanted by the latter. Although the sword did become the weapon of the elite, as well as a symbol of the aristocracy, axes were popular among ordinary warriors until the end of the Middle Ages.
