Item number: X30

Year: circa 1,076-221 BC

Material: Bronze

Size: 123.3 x 49.5 x 25.5 mm

Weight: 233.55 g

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2019

This artefact is a bronze axe, morphologically consistent with relevant antiquities excavated from the Western Zhou dynasty onwards.

In lateral profile, the axe is approximately rectangular, with one end forming a circular arc sharpened into a cutting edge, while the other end is straight, featuring a hollow socket designed to accommodate the handle-connecting component. Its upper and lower profiles are triangular with straight lines. The socket aperture is rectangular, with its longer sides slightly convex to facilitate the insertion of a wooden block. Generally, there are two distinct methods for hafting: the first involves inserting a relatively wide wooden block into the socket, through which a hole is bored to receive the handle; the second involves inserting a component into the socket that is wide on the inside and narrower on the outside, which is then fitted into a square mortise on the wooden haft.

The axe served not only as a woodworking implement but potentially also as an agricultural tool utilized for land reclamation. Such artifacts have been excavated from sites as early as the Dawenkou and Erlitou cultures. By the Shang and Zhou periods, the general morphology of the bronze axe had evolved into an arched, double-bevelled edge similar to the present specimen, meaning that the cutting edge is arcuate and formed by the convergence of two sloping facets. Typically, the width of the cutting edge is slightly greater than or equal to the width of the body, and the body itself is relatively thick. The socket apertures exhibit greater diversity, including rectangular, square, elliptical, trapezoidal, pentagonal, and hexagonal forms, and are generally wide.

Based on the ratio between the length of the body and the width of the cutting edge, these tools can be classified into five distinct types. Among these, Type C features a shorter body, with the ratio of body length to socket width ranging approximately between 2.0 and 3.0; the lateral edges are slightly constricted at the centre, while both ends flare marginally outwards. Within Type C, variants where the cutting edge is shorter than the socket width are designated as Type Ca, whereas those where the cutting edge equals the socket width are designated as Type Cb. This particular type has previously been excavated from early Western Zhou dynasty sites. Bronze axes with arched, double-beveled edges remained in continuous use until the late Warring States period and the early Qin and Han dynasties, eventually disappearing owing to the gradual convergence of the bronze axe with the morphology of the yue (battle-axe) weapon, alongside the widespread adoption of iron implements.

物件編號: X30

年代: 公元前約 1,076-221 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 123.3 x 49.5 x 25.5 mm

重量: 233.55 g

來源: 福君錢幣 2019

這是一件青銅斧，形態學上符合西周起出土的相關文物。

該斧側視約為長方形，一端為圓弧，磨銳為刃；一端平直，為空心銎口，容納連接柄的部件。其上下側為三角形，線條平直。銎口呈長方形，長邊略微外凸，便於容納木塊。一般而言，接柄的方式有兩種：其一為在銎口中插入較寬的木塊，該木塊上穿孔以納柄；其二為插入銎口內較寬，外側較窄的部分，則插入木柲上的方孔內。

斧既是木工工具，也可能因為用於墾荒而作為農具。早自大汶口文化、二里頭文化等均有出土。至商周時期，青銅斧一般形制為類似本器件的弧形雙面刃，意即刃為弧形，且銳部為兩個斜向的面聚合而成。一般刃寬略大於或等於器寬，器身較厚。銎口則較為多元，有長方形、方形、橢圓形、梯形、五邊形、六邊形等，一般較寬。

依器身長度和刃部的比例，可分為五型。其中C型器身較短，器身長與銎口相對比例約於2.0至3.0間，側邊中央稍微收縮，兩端稍微外侈。C型中，刃短於銎口為Ca型，刃等於銎口為Cb型。曾於西周早期遺址出土。弧形雙面刃的青銅斧一直使用到戰國末期至秦漢早期，因青銅斧逐漸與兵器「鉞」的形制合流，以及鐵器的普及而消失。