Prehistoric Danish Axe found with wooden handle

i can't figure out the construction from the picture. the soil is obviously associated with peat bogs, so the slightly acidic soil could not have preserved the wood that well. oh well, i'm not really sure.
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I'd like to see more pictures of how it's hafted. I'm also wondering what type of wood they used. Do you supposed they already knew the properties of Ash 5500 years ago?
 
hank_rearden said:
the soil is obviously associated with peat bogs, so the slightly acidic soil could not have preserved the wood that well.
Click to expand...

The article states it was preserved in clay with low oxygen...good preservation environment.

Also, wasn't there a Neolithic thread recently? I think the old tools had the stone jammed through the center of the haft.
 
Those tools were made by making an eye in the wood and forcing the stone into it. More incredible is the grain alignment!

Thanks for posting! I'd be curious to see a neolithic a thread...
 
They used to split a living tree.

Embed a knapped axe head in it.

Bind the branch back together above and below the axe head.

In a few years they came back and harvested a handle grown tight around the flint.
 
Raymond1000 said:
They used to split a living tree.

Embed a knapped axe head in it.

Bind the branch back together above and below the axe head.

In a few years they came back and harvested a handle grown tight around the flint.
Click to expand...

I like that theory! Certainly there are kinks in the wood on either side of the stone to strongly imply something like this. I guess you wanted to be very patient in those days and didn't angrily throw tools at other folks or toss stuff in the lake on a bad hair day. I'm picturing proud dad saying to young son; "this axe will be ready for your 16th birthday; your job over the next 10 years is to keep vandals, squirrels and deer out of there and make sure a big wind doesn't blow the tree over". Such a sapling would have been vulnerable for quite awhile!
 
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