RARE ANCIENT EUROPEAN BRONZE AGE DISK-BUTTED BATTLE AXE *CEL029

Product Description

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With unique classic features of European Middle Bronze Age prestige war axes, this ancient bronze shaft axe features a prominent protruding disk to its butt end.  The long, narrow axe body and blade was designed to penetrate armor and pierce helmets, able to inflict a fatal blow.  The large disk on the back end would have been effective in breaking bones and crushing skulls, a highly effective design despite how it is wielded.  When not in use, an axe of this elaborate design would have been worn on the belt, as a sign of noble class and prestige.  In the Bronze Age, such a weapon was reserved for warriors of noble descent, wealth or military achievement as bronze was expensive in its day and a weapon of this kind was out of the reach of most.

This is an exceptional museum piece!  Complete and of the finest preservation, this European Middle Bronze Age shaft axe shows fantastic decorative features.  The body where the shaft goes through, has winged protrusions that also serve to strengthen the axe from breaking in combat.  The large disk on the butt end has hammered dimples all around the face near the edge, as well as a nipple in the center and a ridge on the disk edge.  The axe would have been cast in a stone mold and further finished by hand.  The state of preservation is perfect with mint green mineral encrustations on the outer surface as well, and deposits of blue azurite on the inside of the shaft hole. 

Be wary of modern copies that plague the antiquity market today.  We subject every artifact we offer for sale to rigorous inspection and authentication in our own museum lab facility.