Help Requested ID'ing Dug Axe
 

Hello all,

A gentleman I know has requested my assistance in identifying an axe that has been in his family for some time, and was suposedly dug at a colonial site on the East Coast of the U.S.

It is made entirely of iron, measures approx. 25 inches (63 cm) from the spike at the tip, and weighs approx. 2.5 lbs (1.2 kg).

I have exhausted my resources on colonial axes but can not locate anything that resembles this. IMO, it appears more continental or maybe Indo-Persian in form, though I guess this is akin to saying that something with four wheels, a steering wheel, and a combustion engine resembles a car. :D

Anyway, I'm hoping someone here will recognize the form... :)

Cheers,

Chris

Can you show a close-up of the bulbous end to the shaft?

If it wasn't for the 'axe' blade I'd expect it to be an Ankus.

Hi Gene,

How are you? :)

I've attached a photo below, though admittedly it is just a cropped close-up of the original photo... ;)

Best,

Chris

On a long shot basis, right Gene ? :o

Hmmm, I mean if the blade was gone completely, I'd think it was a 'village' ankus sans the 'hook'.
As it's got a small axe type blade instead, how about an Ankus variant, like one from an area where there are coconuts?

A Coconankus, you mean ? :rolleyes:

Hi Chris,

I'm well thanks mate... Work commitments have been a bit overwhelming! Far too many people are called to their reward at this time of year :( I'm always glad when xmas and the early part of the year is over.

With your 'axe-kus' ;)
I'm plumping for India/Ceylon. The size and the spike just look too much like an ankus for me to think of anything else.

How's things with you? Good start to the year?

Best
Gene

LOL! Talk about 'great' minds! I just tried something similar myself!!!! :D

Things are well on my end, I suppose. :) I finally got around to opening my shop in November 2011, and this has been both good and bad from a collecting point of view - unlike before, where I was spending a considerable amount of free time hunting for items, I no longer have that luxury and have to wait to see what comes walking through the door.

But on the other hand, a lot of cool stuff comes walking through that door! It's just that relatively little of it is sharp or pointy. ;)

Interesting thoughts regarding this Odd Axe Out... I've never seen a axe-bladed ankus myself. Is such an animal known to exist? :shrug:

The axe blade is integral to the shaft, FWIW...

Cheers,

Chris

In my humble opinion, this has got to be something else :o
Wait 'til others come in with a 'bingo' revelation :cool:

There are ankus with 'leaf' ends, and there are hybrids that are sometimes claimed as being ankus variants.
Just a thought. Might well be completely wrong.
A shop? Sounds great mate!!! :)

LOL, well at least I have a guess :p

Some 'ankus' are real village 'blacksmith' pieces, like these two from Timo's collection.
I'm sure the all steel axes and all types inbetween have some 'simple' examples.

Anyway, that's it for me! Apart from this half baked theory my locker is emtpy!

Very nice and rare find!!! Your friend isn't mistaken. This is a colonial 'halberd battle ax/tomahawk', pre-1800, as seen in Indian Tomahawks and Frontiersmen Belt Axes', page 59 (Fig 9), pg 60 (Fig 11, 12, 13), all made of a solid one piece of iron, all with top spikes and varying degrees of decoration (one piece even has the haft as a spike, allowing for a throwing implement with spikes all sides (yikes!). Several of these are in the National Museum of the American Indian.
I will be cautious with my comments, though. There are fakes out there and there are obviously look-alikes in other cultures (The rounded circular patterns we see branded into Afghan knives exactly match Inuit designs. Axes from Finland bearing brass tack decoration to the haft exactly resembles 19th c. Native American decor). The only reason I won't vote 100% on my opinion is that the examples shown in Hartzler's volume do have a back spike to the front blade. His books show other examples that don't, but they are not solid iron. This ax in general has the look of the so-called Missouri war hatchets as well as a number of spike-axes as used by the Indians, fur traders, soldiers and explorers of the time.

Great input, Mark :cool:
Tha's what i call/ed 'Bingo' ;)

Lets hope so! That would be a right score!! :D

Thanks for the complement, Fernando, but it was just a case of having the right books! Thanks as well, Gene, for hoping I'm right! :D
This is a case where provenance will greatly help the piece. If it is from a colonial dig site, perhaps there is paperwork to show this? Old photos from the dig site or an original documentation log of the piece? This is one of those situations where it would greatly increase the identity of the object, perhaps to the point where one could even identify the tribe that might have used it. Iron axes followed the settlers over and were trade items made by the French and English fur traders. Interestingly, the Spanish who superseded them were not into the trade thing. Likewise, the Dutch didn't wrangle with the Native Americans much. In any case, I bring this up because most of the Native American tomahawks were not made by them, but by the European traders themselves. Thus, you see them with rounded butts, single-bearded/double-bearded, thickened spikes, etc-i.e. A lot of artistic licence.
Chris, I hope your friend can find some provenance, as this would be a very valuable piece...

I think M Eley might have cracked it!

I was going to reply to this thread this morning, but computer threw a fit.
And I Was going to say that it reminds me of a boathook, but shank is much too short.
Then, I thought maybe a boarding axe, as such items were weapons as well as tools.
Also wonderd vaguely about a fireman's axe...18thC or before....

But I think M Eley may have put all this idle conjecture to rest!

Richard.

Hi Mark,

Thank you for your post (and depth of reference material! ;) )... :)

To what degree - if any - documentation exists I cannot say. As I understand it, the provenance is known but not documented, though I am not certain of this... I'll follow up on this over the next couple days and post any additional findings regarding provenance should there be any.

Also, I guess I have to address that proverbial elephant in my browser window, i.e., that damn inbox that's been full since I don't know when, and clean out a few msgs to make room for some queries I'll be sending via PM... :)

Gene, 'Nando, Richard, and of course Mark - thank you all...

Cheers,

Chris

Check out T.A.T.C.O. old site, an excellent resource, for the most part.
http://tatcalite.tripod.com/id5.htm