Photos Found Old European Axe Heads

[Donorcyclist]

Hello. New to the forum, and a soon to be knife-maker (I'm building my belt grinder, currently). I'm also a metal detectorist, and found two axes in the woods in Germany, last weekend. The bearded axe was practically a surface find, so probably not terribly old. However, the other one, with the swoop in it, was 5 to 6 inches underground, lying flat. Based on other items I found, this depth means it is old.

Does anyone have any information on these that they could share with me?

Thank you!

 

[Ernest DuBois]

You can call the top one zimmermannsbeil. The underneath one could go back to late 19th cent up to postwar times, very typical for southern area but can be widespread. A view of the top would provide further clues about specific uses. Lets hope the iron is not too badly corroded.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

Hello. New to the forum, and a soon to be knife-maker (I'm building my belt grinder, currently). I'm also a metal detectorist, and found two axes in the woods in Germany, last weekend. The bearded axe was practically a surface find, so probably not terribly old. However, the other one, with the swoop in it, was 5 to 6 inches underground, lying flat. Based on other items I found, this depth means it is old.

Does anyone have any information on these that they could share with me?

Thank you!

Those are pretty cool metal detector finds.

 

[Square_peg]

I assume the unspent shells are WWII era? What firearm are they for, 7.92x57 Mauser? Looks like they might have the wide extractor groove of that ammunition.

 

[Donorcyclist]

You can call the top one zimmermannsbeil. The underneath one could go back to late 19th cent up to postwar times, very typical for southern area but can be widespread. A view of the top would provide further clues about specific uses. Lets hope the iron is not too badly corroded.

Ausgezeichnet! Thank you very much! So the bottom ax is not nearly as old as I thought it was, even though it was deep. The top one should be refurbishable, which will be awesome. The lower one is too rotten to restore, though. I'd lose half of the ax in the process. I'll probably wire wheel it, put a handle on it, and coat it with oil to preserve it.

Those are pretty cool metal detector finds.

Thank you!

I assume the unspent shells are WWII era? What firearm are they for, 7.92x57 Mauser? Looks like they might have the wide extractor groove of that ammunition.

I don't think that the shells are very old. They are all over the place, and are apparently German Army practice bullets. I'm not sure about caliber, because I threw them away before I got on the plane (I was told that one guy even got hassled for a musket ball he found! Mine got onboard with no hassles, thankfully).