Everyone has one, everyone uses it: the axe. But what did something as mundane as an axe look like in the 13th century? Axes were indispensable tools and weapons in the Middle Ages, produced in various shapes and sizes. However, not many original axes have survived. Here, I provide an overview of the archaeological finds and depictions of tool axes from the 13th century, primarily from Germany and other European countries. This article focuses on tool axes—a separate article will cover axes in a military context.

Summary

The Finds

The axe heads presented here originate from various regions, including Heidelberg, Groitzsch, Wartenberg, York, and Schleswig. They exhibit typical features such as short necks, obliquely shaped blades, or welded steel edges. Particularly noteworthy is the small hammer axe from Schleswig, which was likely used for fine work on antler or bone.

The Depictions

Contemporary illustrations from manuscripts, stained glass windows, and psalters show how axes were used in everyday life. Two main forms emerge:

• The carpenter’s axe with a distinctly set-apart blade, ideal for hewing beams and boards.
• The universal or tool axe with a short neck, used for slaughtering animals, woodwork, or felling trees.

While the finds provide insights into craftsmanship, the depictions reveal the versatility of axes in medieval life.

The Finds

Heiligenberg near Heidelberg

The oldest axe find, from Heidelberg, is characterized by a moderately pronounced shaft neck, which runs obliquely toward the blade. This shape is typical of tools from the High and early Late Middle Ages. Examples include pieces from Swiss castles and a specimen from Oberwittelsbach, which must have been created by 1208—the year the Wittelsbach ancestral castle was destroyed (Gross, p. 447).

A younger find from the west slope features a shaft tube approximately 7 cm in length. It resembles two specimens from Wartenberg Castle, dated before 1265. However, due to a strike mark, this axe head is dated to the Late Middle Ages (Gross, p. 447).

Groitzsch

An axe head from Groitzsch in today’s Saxony (Germany) has a welded steel edge and is dated between 1224 and the end of the 13th century (Krauskopf, Tafel 22 Nr. 11).

Wartenberg Castle

Two heavily corroded axe heads from Wartenberg Castle in Upper Hesse (Germany), dated before 1265 (Krauskopf, p. 185).

Wulp

Blade of a small hatchet weighing 237.5 g, with a curved edge. No shaft hole is preserved, but the poll shows the beginning of a handle or tang. Dated to the 11th–13th century (Krauskopf, Plate 23 Nr. 12).

Dahme

An axe found beneath a wooden road surface in Dahme/Mark. The wood of the road surface was dendrochronologically dated to 1246, suggesting the axe originates from the same period (Tegge).

Schleswig

Particularly interesting (though not dated to the 13th century) is an 11.5 cm high and only 5.5 cm wide hammer axe from Schleswig, dated to the 12th century. This axe is likely connected to richly decorated hammer axes of an Eastern European group, which were also widespread in eastern Scandinavia. Due to its small size, it was probably used for working antler and bone for combs or similar small items (Saggau, p. 69).

An object from the 13th century likely represents an axe used as a weapon. It features short shaft lobes and a widely flared blade (Saggau, p. 69).

York

The following axe blade was found during excavations at the Midland Bank in York. It corresponds to Type 1 in Goodall’s classification. Due to its straight edge (right side), the axe was likely used for hewing or straightening beams or boards.

Metallurgical examinations reveal that the axe body consists of multiple layers of wrought iron, while the cutting edge was made by welding a higher-carbon hardened steel. The steel of the axe body was likely produced from surface-carburized, stacked, and forge-welded wrought iron plates.

Depictions

The following section presents depictions of axes from various 13th-century manuscripts, codices, psalters, and other sources. Two predominant forms emerge:

• Carpenter’s Axe with Set-Apart Blade An axe with a distinctly set-apart blade and pronounced shaft neck, primarily used by carpenters for hewing beams and boards. Despite its frequent depiction in historical illustrations, I could not find any original finds of this type.

• Universal or Tool Axe with Short Neck Axes with a short neck and a blade that is either strongly set apart or slopes downward. This type resembles the archaeological finds from Heiligenberg, Groitzsch, Wartenberg, York, Wulp, and Dahme. The depictions show these axes primarily in use for slaughtering animals and general woodwork, such as pruning or felling trees.

MS M.638 Crusader Bible, France, dated c. 1240

Martyrologe-Obituaire de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 1250–1290

Psalterium non feriatum – HB II 24, 1211–1213

Annales – Cod.hist.fol.415 from Zwiefalten, c. 1162

MS M.739 Book of Hours, Bamberg, dated 1204–1219

MS M.711 Hainricus Missal, Weingarten, dated 1220–1230

Stained Glass Windows from Chartres Cathedral, dated 1205–1240

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Sources

• Gross, Uwe (2012). Die mittelalterlichen und neuzeitlichen Keramik-, Metall und Beinfunde. In: Marzolff, Peter; Klein, Frieder and Uwe Gross: Forschungen zum Heiligenberg bei Heidelberg: Forschungsgeschichte, Fundmaterial, Restaurierung (Forschungen und Berichte der Archäologie des Mittelalters in Baden-Württemberg; Vol. 32), Stuttgart 2012.
• Krauskopf, Christof (2005). Tric-trac, Trense, Treichel. Untersuchungen zur Sachkultur des Adels im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert. Deutsche Burgenvereinigung e.V.
• Tegge, Sebastian and Bräunig, René (2018): Warenverkehr auf mittelalterlichen Straßen in der Stadt Dahme/Mark. In: Archäologie in Berlin und Brandenburg. 2016.
• Saggau, Hilke Elisabeth (2000). Mittelalterliche Eisenfunde aus Schleswig. Ausgrabung Schild 1971–1975. Neumünster: Wachholtz Verlag.
• Tweddle, Dominic (1986). Finds from Parliament Street and Other Sites in the City Center. In: The Archaeology of York. The Small Finds 17/4. York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research.