1992.256.116: Axe Head
Weapons and AmmunitionIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1992.256.116
- Title
- Axe Head
- Classification
- Weapons and Ammunition
- Work Type
- axe
- Date
- first half 14th century BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Anatolia
- Period
- Bronze Age, Late
- Culture
- Anatolian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/304579
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Bronze
- Technique
- Cast, lost-wax process
- Dimensions
- 8.7 x 2.2 x 2.5 cm (3 7/16 x 7/8 x 1 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Cu, 86.73; Sn, 12.33; Pb, 0.17; Zn, less than 0.001; Fe, 0.04; Ni, 0.16; Ag, 0.02; Sb, 0.1; As, 0.43; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.024; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. RiedererTechnical Observations: The patina is a smooth green and black with brown burial deposits. The object is structurally intact, although surface deformations are present along some of the edges. Most of the tool marks appear to be modern. The axe head was made by casting, probably using the lost-wax process.
Carol Snow (submitted 2002)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Louise M. and George E. Bates, Camden, ME (by 1971-1992), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1992.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates
- Accession Year
- 1992
- Object Number
- 1992.256.116
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This heavy, socketed axe head does not have a cutting blade and may therefore have served a ceremonial purpose (1). The wide, curved end where the blade would be has a 2.2-cm-wide edge. On the opposite end are two opposed spikes with a bead on the terminal of each; the butt of the axe head slopes and curves between the two points. The edges are raised at each end. The diameter expands around the socket and tapers toward each end.
NOTES:
1. Compare another axe head also lacking a cutting edge in O. W. Muscarella, Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1988) 237, no. 336. See also a depiction of a Hittite axe head with a thick, curled edge instead of a blade for cutting in R. Dussaud, “Haches a douille de type asiatique,” Syria 11.3 (1930): 245-71, esp. 245-46, fig. 2.
Lisa M. Anderson
Subjects and Contexts
- Ancient Bronzes
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu