Comparing Axe Heads of Stone, Bronze, and Steel: Studies in Experimental Archaeology

Recovering prehistoric woodworking skills using spatial analysis techniques

“…On the other hand, the stone axes have become more and more useless after the increase of the tree diameter. A further interesting result proved the significance of the handle or haft as the long-hafted axes had greater productivity over time during the experimental tree felling work steps (Mathieu et al, 1997). In addition, the handle's mounting angle of a hand tool can also influence the woodworking efficiency as an approximately 13% smaller mounting position has produced around 40% less wood trimming volume within the same time sequence during an archaeological experiment (Kovács et al, 2013).…”

Socio-ecology of Early and Middle Bronze Age communities in the northwest Atlantic region of Iberia: Wood resources procurement and forest management

“…Technological changes during this period involving the incorporation of bronze tools could have influenced the relation established between these communities and wood resources. The efficiency of the toolkit used for wood procurement was improved by the incorporation of metal axes that reduced the time invested in felling trees and made the felling of larger trees easier (Mathieu and Meyer 1997). The presence of galleries of xylophages and hyphae filaments in Quercus wood could be related to the harvesting of dead wood or its storage before burning.…”

Raised Field Abandonment in the Upper Amazon

“…Third, in addition to their roles within the larger culture, the tools likely had a significant impact on agriculture itself. Metal tools, especially metal axes, are a substantial improvement on stone tools for the agricultural tasks of felling trees and clearing vegetation (Denevan 1992b;Mathieu and Meyer 1997). Denevan has argued that slash-and-burn farming in the Amazon Basin may not have been feasible before the arrival of metal tools.…”