196
PERFORATED AXES.
[CHAP. VIII.
The careful manner in which their edges are blunted shows that they cannot have been intended for cutting tools, but that they must have been weapons of war. A blow from a battle-axe with a blunted edge would be just as fatal as if the edge had been sharp and trenchant, while the risk of accidental injury to the scantily-clothed warrior who carried the axe was next to none when the edge of the weapon was thus blunted. The practice of removing the edge by grinding was, no doubt, introduced in consequence of some painful experience.
Fig. 128.—Borrowash. 12
Fig. 128 is of still more ornamental character, having a beaded moulding towards each edge of the faces and following the curvature of the sides. The drawing is taken from a cast in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, presented by Sir W. Tite, M.P.[1] The original is said to have been found near Whitby. A fine axe-head "of red granite, ornamented with raised mouldings," was, however, found with
- ↑ Proc. Soc. Ant., 2nd S., vol. ii. p. 295.
