2nd-1st millennium B.C.. With central shaft hole and blade set at right angle. Cf. Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 2, London, 2004, item 34, p.32. 1.22 kg, 24.5 cm (9 5/8 in.).

The adze-axe was a fundamental axe of many Bronze Age cultures of the world. Its form was one that lends itself to dual purposes - for war and peace. As a tool, it was used to shape wood in fabricating a variety of objects or even wooden beams for construction. As a weapon, its heavy mass and compact form make it a very deadly striking and chopping weapon, even able to defeat light armour.

From a 1990s German collection. Ex London, UK, gallery.