DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0693
618 The double axe in the West
of a different sort have come to light. C. F. Herbst1 published two
of single blade found at Skogstorp near Eskilstuna in Sweden and
another found in the Amt wood near Veile in Denmark. All three,
in lieu of solid metal, had a thin coating of bronze over a clay core;
and the first two were adorned with plates of gold and studs of
amber. We have, however, no proof that any of these axes had a
definitely religious significance. The copper double axes very pos-
sibly served as a currency unit for the living, the bronze single axes
as suitable gifts to the dead.
Fig- 5*5-
More ad rem is A. Blanchet's observation2 that over and over
again both in France and in Sweden axes of stone or bronze have
been found carefully arranged in symmetric circles, perhaps with a
view to solar cult. Besides, bronze axe-heads from the burial ground
at Hallstatt are in some cases furnished with the small figure of a
rider or a horse (fig. 515)3, which J. Dechelette4 takes to be an
emblem of the sun, though it may have some other meaning.
1 C. F. Herbst in the Aarbtjiger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie 1866 pp. 124—
132 with figs., Sir J. Evans The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments,
of Great Britain and Ireland London 1881 p. 450, J. J. A. Worsaae The Pre-history oj
the North trans. H. F. Morland Simpson London 1886 p. 96, O. Montelius The Civilisa-
tion of Sweden in Heathen Tunes trans. F. H. Woods London 1888 p. 51 f. fig. 52.
2 A. Blanchet in the Bulletin de la Sociite Nationale des Antiquaires de France 1903
pp. 137—141 draws up a list of such cases, which is doubled in length by J. Dechelette
op. cit. ii. 1. 483 n. 2.
3 E. v. Sacken Das Grabfeld von Hallstatt in Oberosterreich und dessen Alterthiimer
Wien 1868 p. 41 f. pi. 8,2—4 ( = my fig. 515), Forrer Reallex. p. 329 pi. 82, 3—5.
4 J. Dechelette op. cit. ii. 1. 482 fig. 205, 5.
of a different sort have come to light. C. F. Herbst1 published two
of single blade found at Skogstorp near Eskilstuna in Sweden and
another found in the Amt wood near Veile in Denmark. All three,
in lieu of solid metal, had a thin coating of bronze over a clay core;
and the first two were adorned with plates of gold and studs of
amber. We have, however, no proof that any of these axes had a
definitely religious significance. The copper double axes very pos-
sibly served as a currency unit for the living, the bronze single axes
as suitable gifts to the dead.
Fig- 5*5-
More ad rem is A. Blanchet's observation2 that over and over
again both in France and in Sweden axes of stone or bronze have
been found carefully arranged in symmetric circles, perhaps with a
view to solar cult. Besides, bronze axe-heads from the burial ground
at Hallstatt are in some cases furnished with the small figure of a
rider or a horse (fig. 515)3, which J. Dechelette4 takes to be an
emblem of the sun, though it may have some other meaning.
1 C. F. Herbst in the Aarbtjiger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie 1866 pp. 124—
132 with figs., Sir J. Evans The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments,
of Great Britain and Ireland London 1881 p. 450, J. J. A. Worsaae The Pre-history oj
the North trans. H. F. Morland Simpson London 1886 p. 96, O. Montelius The Civilisa-
tion of Sweden in Heathen Tunes trans. F. H. Woods London 1888 p. 51 f. fig. 52.
2 A. Blanchet in the Bulletin de la Sociite Nationale des Antiquaires de France 1903
pp. 137—141 draws up a list of such cases, which is doubled in length by J. Dechelette
op. cit. ii. 1. 483 n. 2.
3 E. v. Sacken Das Grabfeld von Hallstatt in Oberosterreich und dessen Alterthiimer
Wien 1868 p. 41 f. pi. 8,2—4 ( = my fig. 515), Forrer Reallex. p. 329 pi. 82, 3—5.
4 J. Dechelette op. cit. ii. 1. 482 fig. 205, 5.