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Product Description
SEE MORE PRE-COLUMBIAN TOOLS AND WEAPONS
Made of an stunningly beautiful and rare porphyry stone, this long polished war axe was found in Colombia and is from the Pre-Spanish contact Panache people. The Panche were a widely feared and violent, warring culture that practiced cannibalism on their enemies. The existed from 300 AD until defeat by the Spanish conquistadors in 1538 AD.
This elongated axe body terminates to a flared striking head. The tapered base would have been embedded in a wooden shaft handle. One side of the base has been grooved to accept a wedge that would have firmly held the axe in its handle shaft. The very end of this base has a decorative incised line cut into the stone. This end would have protruded slightly out the back of the wooden handle shaft.
The entire axe shows expert shaping and polishing of this very tough and aesthetic stone. This axe was a functional prestige weapon - the stone adding unusual beauty that defined the status of the warrior that carried it in battle. We have not seen a stone of this type ever before in any Pre-Columbian stone weapons of the area. It is in perfect, complete and undamaged condition, with deeply impacted ancient mineral deposits on all surfaces and crevices, to provide irrefutable evidence of its age and authenticity. In our 34 years of collecting, this is the only Panche war axe we have ever had come across in the public market. It comes from the famous Ladislas and Helena Segy collection that was formed in the 1950's.
HISTORY
The Panche or Tolima are an indigenous group of people that lived in what is now Colombia. They inhabited the southwestern parts of the department of Cundinamarca and the northeastern areas of the department of Tolima, close to the Magdalena River. At the time of the Spanish conquest, more than 30,000 Panche were living in what would become the New Kingdom of Granada. The Panche people were organized in a loose confederation with different subgroups whose names still remain as municipalities of Cundinamarca. Like other indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Panche performed cranial deformation.
The Panche were a strong group of warriors who fought numerous battles with the neighboring Muisca. They walked partially naked and were ornamented with earrings, feathers and golden pieces. The Panche hunted and fought wars with their enemies using sticks and clubs and poisoned arrows. They used poison of spiders and snakes for their arrows.
According to Pedro Simón, the Panche performed cannibalism on parts of their conquered enemies. Some sources state they ate everything except for the heads, which they hung in their bohíos. The word "Panche" in their own Panche language means "cruel" and "murderer".
The Panche civilization has been described from 300 AD, and eventually . After the Spanish conquest and the installation of the New Kingdom of Granada in 1538 AD, the Panche quickly diminished due to their resistance against the Spanish conquistadors. The first Spanish conquerors who invaded the Panche territories were Juan de Céspedes and Alonso de San Martín. Later conquest was performed by Hernán Venegas Carrillo.
