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Hafting a Stone Axe
Click on the photos to see an enlarged version
Dr Gheorghe would like to make a stone axe from the beginning, but since he has no flint, he decided to use an existing, real stone age axe, from Strehaia / Mehedinti County. The stone axe has dimensions of 150 x 75 x 75 mm and a weight of about two kilograms. The hole has a diameter of 40 mm tapering to 35 mm. He used a green branch from a tree as the raw materials for a handle, although Dr Gheorghe says that it would be better to use a well seasoned, dry piece of wood, as it will not shrink as green wood does. A good strong species is the Locust Tree, Robinia pseudacacia, known in Romanian as Salcâmul.
From Wikipedia:
Salcâmul (cf. turc. salkâm) (Robinia pseudacacia, familia Leguminosae) este un arbore melifer, cu tulpina înaltă, până la 25-30 de metri şi ramuri spinoase rare, fiind aclimatizat în Romania. Provine din continentul nord-american.
Robinia pseudacacia is a nectar bearing tree, with a trunk of 25 - 30 metres, sometimes with thorns, originally from North America, but now acclimatised in Romania.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe 25th December 2007
This diagram shows the thought processes that Dr Gheorghe went through in the design of the handle.
At first he was going to put a slot in the wood, and insert a wedge to keep the handle firm in the head. However he realised that the hole tapered gradually, and realised that ancient man could more easily and efficiently have used a handle which itself was cone (or frustum) shaped. As the axe head moved along the handle, it would be stopped from moving further by the increasing diameter of the handle. This would be a better and more permanent arrangement, as well as being easier to make, so long as you are willing to carve the handle to the correct shape. Since the handle had to be carved in any case, this would have been easy to arrange, as shown in the diagram at left.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe 25th December 2007
A branch was chosen so that it could be whittled down to 35 mm where it enters the stone axe, and at the far end 40 mm. At the 40 mm end there was providentially a small side branch, providing a secure stop for the handle as it dries and shrinks.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe 25th December 2007
As the branch is whittled to size, the stone axe is gradually climbing the handle to its final end point, resulting in a cone-in-cone design which is very secure.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe 25th December 2007
The stone axe is finished at this point. Dr Gheorghe believes that ancient man used glue from a tree to make the axe head more secure.
This sort of exercise is very important in order to understand the mind of ancient man, and to really understand the tools, houses, weapons and so on which they used.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe 25th December 2007
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Alexis Project Filiasi/Romania
RC J/263/230/2007 CIF 21464151
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