[RobT]

C4RL,

I believe that it is important that I address your last sentence first. I issued no challenge. Rather, I reported my findings and invited all interested parties to duplicate my efforts in order to support or refute what I had found.
I am sorry that you misapprehended my post and thought I meant my “INDIA” axe was an antique. If you reread my post I believe you will find that I never said that it was an antique. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe it is but I do believe its profile is one that has been used in different areas of the subcontinent for a good while. My reason for specifying antique for the viking, fokos, and ciupaga examples is as follows. Actual viking axes are all antique. What I meant was that I wanted to see a real viking axe with a profile that matched the OP’s axe profile not some modern blacksmith’s vaguely similar take on the real thing. I wished for this same stricture to be applied to the fokos and ciupaga. I want to see old, traditional forms of fokos and ciupaga that match the OP’s axe profile, not some modern pastiche.
As for my "INDIA" axe head being Pashtun, again I must say that I am sorry that you mistook what I wrote. Nowhere did I say that my axe head was Pashtun. Actually, I think that it is just as likely not. Frankly, I don’t know for sure that the pierced axes are Pashtun either (although others have stated quite positively that they are). All I meant was that my axe head profile closely matched the profile of the OP’s pierced axe head and that my axe head was made for that same market. That market could have been exclusively Pashtun, or another ethnic group entirely, or a number of different ethnic groups (including or excluding Pashtun) that use that size and shape axe head. Likewise, the maker of my axe head could be a member of any number of ethnic groups.
You wrote, “The other thing I don’t really get is how your Indian stamped head bares any resemblance at all to the O.P’s, stories & theories aside.” Well, the OP responded to my initial post with, “Yes, very similar in shape, I suspect the more mundane undecorated ones are indeed for locals & every day use, while the pierced and decorated ones are for war, status and parade use.” I am posting pictures of my two pierced axe heads placed edge to edge with my un-pierced one. To me, my pierced heads look very similar to the OP’s pierced head and, in turn, my un-pierced head looks very similar in profile to all three pierced heads. To me, the examples you posted don’t share the same similarity. If you disagree, then you and I are not seeing the same thing and all further discussion about the alleged similarity is pointless.

Sincerely,
RobT