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Composition

Unfortunately it is not possible at this time to treat the subject of composition in axes as fully as we can hafting. There is limited variation in composition; nearly all axes are made of either stone or metal. Both these materials, however, are susceptible to detailed study, although such studies have seldom been done. For instance, stone is available in a great number of forms, but only certain ones-granite, quartz, basalt, jade, diorite, flint, and obsidian—have the necessary resistance to shock, combined with hardness (Martin, Quimby, and Collier, 1947: 8). Since the availability of such stone varies regionally, it would be most revealing to know what was available in any area and what choices were made. If men over a wide area chose one type of stone, when within that area there were other equally desirable types of stone for the purpose, then cultural factors probably influenced the choice. But in order to make such judgment, there must be many more detailed studies than are now available.

The same is true of metals. The study of the composition of the metals of ancient weapons could be extremely revealing and, in time, undoubtedly will be. Not only must the composition and the smelting and treatment (annealing tempering) methods be studied but the composition of the ore bodies from which these metals were obtained must be known as well. Detailed studies of this sort are just beginning to appear. Regrettably, in this study composition will get only passing notation and attention must be centered on hafting. Fortunately hafting is most revealing and of great importance in determining the shape or form of the implement. Further, methods of hafting have great longevity and usually characterize large, contiguous areas, which suggests the results of diffusion.

Function

That function had a major influence on hafting is an understatement. It also had a major influence on composition and form. Heavy work demanded a secure haft as well as sturdy blade material. The shape and size of the head as well as the angle of the blade were predetermined by the work requirements. Nonetheless, caution must be taken with generalizations, since such forms as ceremonial axes often violate these basic rules of function. Since a detailed discussion of the world-wide function of axes and adzes is impossible here, function will be discussed only in those specific cases where pre-Columbian diffusion has been suggested.

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SUMMARY

This study has discussed the many characteristics of the two primary percussive cutting tools, the ax and the adz, and has shown that the key to their classification is hafting. By mapping these hafting techniques on a world-wide scale, it was shown that all of the six basic hafting methods were found in both the Old World and the New World. The question next asked was, “Which of these resulted from diffusion?” To answer this, the distribution patterns of seventeen specific characteristics of the hafting methods were analyzed. The result showed that the patterns of five—(1) the shaft-hole, star-shaped mace, (2) the elbow-hafted, grooved adz, (3) the bent- or split-stick, grooved ax, (4) the slotted-handle hafted, perforated tang ax, and (5) the vertical-hafted, full-socket ax—suggested transoceanic diffusion from the Old World.

Detailed analysis of the shape, form, and function of each of these five revealed that the grooved ax, because of its simplicity in form and its very early origin, was probably the result of independent invention in the Western Hemisphere. The weighing of the evidence also shed some doubt on diffusion of the perforated tang ax because of its absence among the islands of Polynesia.

The strongest cases for transoceanic diffusion rest with the elbow-hafted, grooved adz, the shaft-holed star mace, and the vertical-hafted, full-socket ax. Of these, the grooved adz appears to have the strongest case because examples, similar in hafting, shape, and form, have been found in both northwest Argentina and Easter Island. Peter Buck (1938: 322-323) discounts Easter Island as the route to South America from Asia because of the lack of timber there for building suitable canoes. He supports the diffusion but believes that the link was from the Marquesas to the north Peruvian coast instead. At this stage the author will not contest Buck’s theory until more research is done in the northern Chile-northwestern Argentina region. The conclusion reached about the grooved adz is that diffusion to South America in slow, progressive steps across the South Pacific from China appears possible and that, if the carriers of this adz did leave from Easter Island and were carried directly across, they would have landed on the north coast of Chile, not too distant from where the Argentine adz was found.

In the case of the shaft-holed star mace, the link suggested is between Japan and Ecuador sometime before A.D. 500. This relationship coincides with other possible patterns of diffusion previously introduced by Meggers (1966) and may be part of a complex.

The full-socket method of hafting is very rare in the Western Hemisphere and ls limited to the Mochica of coastal Peru. In Indonesia and parts of Melanasia, on the other hand, the concentrations are so dense that some spread into the islands of the Pacific seems likely. Buck (1944: 136) mentions a form of socketed adz “known form Hawaii to New Zealand.” Although the type of socket mentioned here is somewhat different from that used in this study, nevertheless the principle is much the same and reinforces the case for trans-pacific diffusion to Peru. Other comparisons should now be made between the cultures of the Mochica and those of early Southeast Asians to determine any other cultural links that might help to substantiate this concept of the diffusion of the full socket.

Although the patterns of the socket, the elbow, and the shaft-hole hafting methods encourage arguments for transpacific diffusion, those of the plain tang, epsilon, perforated, and butt-hafted, T-shaped axes leave many questions about their independent invention unanswered. Further discoveries will most certainly amplify, clarify, and extend these findings to more specific dates and locations.

How diffusion came about and what routes were used are at the moment mere speculation. What has been established here is that there is enough similarity, in shape, in form, in distribution, and in dating of the three forms of hafting-the shift-hole star mace, the elbow-hafted, grooved adz and the full-socket ax of coastal northwest South America and eastern and southeastern Asia to give the proponents of the theory of “pure coincidence” cause to pause and consider.