The Roman Army equipped itself with axes. The sagaris-described as either single bitted or double bitted-became associated by the Greeks with the mythological Amazons, though these were generally ceremonial axes rather than practical implements. In the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the Iron Age, the double-bladed labrys axe was prevalent, and a hafted, single-bitted axe made of bronze or later iron was sometimes used as a weapon of war by the heavy infantry of ancient Greece, especially when confronted with thickly-armored opponents. Some of them were suited for practical use as infantry weapons while others were clearly intended to be brandished as symbols of status and authority, judging by the quality of their decoration. More specifically, bronze battle-axe heads are attested in the archeological record from ancient China and the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Narrow axe heads made of cast metals were subsequently manufactured by artisans in the Middle East and then Europe during the Copper Age and the Bronze Age. Technological development continued in the Neolithic period (see, for example, the entry for the Battle-axe people of Scandinavia, who treated their axes as high-status cultural objects). The first hafted stone axes appear to have been produced about 6000 BCE during the Mesolithic period. Stone hand axes were in use in the Paleolithic period for hundreds of thousands of years. History Europe Prehistory and the ancient Mediterranean (See entry for Viking Age arms and armor.) Viking axes were wielded with one hand or two, depending on the length of the plain wooden haft. They produced several varieties, including specialized throwing axes (see francisca) and "bearded" axes or "skegox" (so named for their trailing lower blade edge which increased cleaving power and could be used to catch the edge of an opponent's shield and pull it down, leaving the shield-bearer vulnerable to a follow-up blow). Certainly, Scandinavian foot soldiers and maritime marauders employed them as a stock weapon during their heyday, which extended from the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the 11th century. Some later specimens had all-metal handles.īattle axes are particularly associated in Western popular imagination with the Vikings. The hardwood handles of military axes came to be reinforced with metal bands called langets, so that an enemy warrior could not cut the shaft. The crescent-shaped heads of European battle axes of the Roman and post-Roman periods were usually made of wrought iron with a carbon steel edge or, as time elapsed across the many centuries of the medieval era, steel. Moreover, a lighter weapon is much quicker to bring to bear in combat and manipulate for repeated strikes against an adversary. Axes were always cheaper than swords and considerably more available.īattle axes generally weigh far less than modern splitting axes, especially mauls, because they were designed to cut legs and arms rather than wood consequently, narrowish slicing blades are the norm. Axes could be modified into deadly projectiles as well (see the francisca for an example). Besides axes designed for combat, there were many axes that doubled as tools and weapons. Axes, by virtue of their ubiquity, are no exception. Through the course of human history, commonplace objects have been pressed into service as weapons. 2.1.1 Prehistory and the ancient Mediterranean.
0 kommentar(er)
