HAFTED AXE This axe handle may date to sometime around European contact. Little is known about it except that it's reported to have been found many years ago in a dry rock shelter in New Mexico. The celt was attached to the handle after it was discovered and is not original to the handle. The hafting area is damaged from splitting which may have caused the original owner to discard it. The hafting socket is actually the base of a limb or knot in the wood. The wood is weathered and seems to be quite old. The narrow end of the handle is slightly sharpened and appears to have once served as a digging tool. No radio carbon date or identification of the wood has been attempted. The handle measures 24 inches (61 cm) long and 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide.
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