Talk:Adze

Untitled

removed as irrelevant or lacking NPOV:

tragically often the implements have been transported thousands of miles from their homeland, a legacy of colonialism and racism among other things.

Pedant17 10:57, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I just looked this up, as I was wondering what it is. I see that Webster's dictionary (I looked it up on-line), which is the normative American English dictionary as far as I know, lists "Adze" as the main entry word, and "Adz" as an optional form. I feel like the article should reflect this. LKarabeg (talk) 07:48, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I made a small change. Joefromrandb (talk) 13:34, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

The article currently states that the adze is "similar to an axe but with the head mounted perpendicular to the handle". Of course, the head of an ax is also mounted perpendicular to the handle. I have no direct knowledge of the adze, but looking at the picture it seems as if the author of this statement meant to say that points along the surface of the adze head are perpendicular to the handle or, equivalently, that the normal of the head's surface was parallel with the direction of the handle. Can someone with a stake in this article correct his if I am right? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.17.81.24 (talk) 00:35, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

Caption for pic "Adzes, Marshall and Yap Islands"

Of the 3 items shown, only the top appears to be an adze. The middle item is an ax, while the bottom item would be an adze if it had a sharp blade, but it has a blunt stone, perhaps for cracking grain ? Not sure what such a tool is called. Can we correct the caption ? SinisterLefty (talk) 22:50, 25 August 2018 (UTC)

Missing Dedicated European History Section

The current History section covers Africa, South Pacific, Northwest Coastal America, and New Guinea/Melanesia, but has no coverage of Europe despite a well-documented archaeological record of adze use (or functionally equivalent tranchet/transverse-edged tools) from the Mesolithic onward. This record is closely tied to post-glacial forest clearance, boatbuilding, and timber construction across much of the continent, representing one of the longest continuous archaeological records of adze use from an extended 'wood age' to the modern era where wooden shipbuilding still continues.

• Mesolithic (c. 10,000–6000 BCE): Flint tranchet adzes are a defining tool at many European sites. Examples include Star Carr (Yorkshire, UK, ~9000 BCE), Broom Hill (Hampshire, with over 100 axes/adzes), Finglesham (Kent, with multiple adzes and 33+ sharpening flakes), and Danish Ertebølle/Kongemose cultures. They varied widely in size (70mm to over 300mm), were carefully curated and resharpened, and were used primarily for heavy woodworking such as shaping dugout canoes, shelters, and handles. See: Kent Archaeology journal on Finglesham; Hampshire Archaeology notes on Broom Hill; Tranchet_axe.
• Neolithic: Polished stone adzes, including the characteristic "shoe-last" adzes (Schuhleistenkeil) of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture in central Europe, were essential for clearing dense forests and building longhouses and wells. Experimental archaeology with replicas demonstrates they could efficiently fell large hardwoods and produce precise corner joins. Traded examples (e.g., Danish types reaching Britain) are known. See: Elburg et al. (2015), "Field Trials in Neolithic Woodworking," EXARC Journal; studies on LBK adzes.

Later Bronze and Iron Age bronze/iron adzes continued in shipbuilding, coopering, and timber-framed construction, feeding into medieval and early modern European traditions (the article already includes a 1944 English shipyard photo).

Suggestion: Add a brief "Europe" subsection (or integrate chronologically) for better global balance. This could pair with an expanded "Convergent development" section noting how the transverse hafted blade form independently evolved in many parts of the world wherever intensive woodworking occurred in forested environments. ~2026-19049-03 (talk) 14:46, 27 March 2026 (UTC)