Axes, perhaps the first all-purpose tools, date back some 400,000 years, before the discovery of fire. Made originally from crudely chipped stones, the axe eventually evolved into the flint hand variety of the Old Stone Age, or Paleolithic period. Primitive axes of this type were commonly used for killing animals, cutting meat, and fashioning other tools from flint--a hard, yet versatile, siliceous rock.

By 30,000 b.c., wooden hafts, or handles, were added to flint axes. Around 4000 b.c., axe heads were being molded of copper, which was replaced over time by bronze, iron, and steel. Heads were originally attached to handles by a variety of means, none of which ensured lasting durability; eventually, axe heads were specially formed with large openings called eyes to allow custom fitting of handles.

During the Medieval Age the axe became a valuable agricultural tool, indispensable for the clearing of forests. It was also...