Plačiaašmeniai vėlyvojo geležies amžiaus kirviai: bendroji apžvalga
Wide-bladed Axes in the Late Iron Age: a General Review

Summary/Abstract: The data on 230 late Iron Age axes with a wide blade and a blunt end (wide-bladed), found in Lithuania’s territory and at present kept at 16 museums, served as a basis for the estimation of their main parameters, i. e. height, weight and the width of the blades as well as for the analysis of their structure parts. It was ascertained that they consisted, like in the case of axes with a narrow blade and a blunt end (narrow-bladed), of three parts – the butt, head and blades; however, their main peculiarity is determined by a considerable widening of the back part of the head; as a result, there appears a characteristic protrusion in the direction of the helve, the so-called “beard”. Depending on the way this “beard” is ended, the lower part of the head acquires different forms, i. e. those of a rectangle, trapezium or a flanked triangle; the “beard” is connected to the butt through the narrow part of the head. This characteristic is not typical of M type axes. It was also determined that the interval of axes’ height is rather compact; if compared to narrow-bladed axes or socketed ones, their height amplitude turns left, i. e. towards the direction of smaller ones. The interval of weight distribution is very close to that of narrow-bladed axes, but in the direction of lighter ones. The data allowed to claim that most widely used wide-bladed axes in Lithuania’s territory in the late Iron Age had blades from 7,1 to 15,0 cms; only M type axes had wider blades.

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