Product Description
Made of solid mottled dark green Serpentine, this is a spectacular carved stone halberd crescent axe from Pre-Columbian South America. It most likely was a ceremonial or votive weapon as it would have been too fragile in its design, to be functional. The end of the shaft base has been drilled to affix this axe to a wooden or bone handle. Amazingly, it has survived INTACT and is complete and unbroken as originally made! It comes from a very old New York City private collection dating the 1950's and this and PC286 were the ONLY examples of their kind in this collection. Considering the fragile nature of the design of this axe, it is somewhat miraculous it survived complete.
This is the only instance in our 33 year history of working extensively with ancient artifacts, that we have ever seen an object like this. It was likely a votive offering or trophy object of a high-ranking warrior or warrior of noble family lineage. For extreme rarity in Pre-Columbian polished stone axes, this is one that would rank right at the top!
Mineral deposits are intact throughout the surfaces, in microscopic openings and in the bi-conically drilled hole - irrefutable evidence of age and authenticity.