Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/75

 portions being cut away with these axes. In the peat bogs of Denmark old stems of trees have been found which appear to have been felled in this way, and the American Indians are reported to have hollowed out canoes 30 feet long by means of stone tomahawks, assisted by the use of fire.

When used, the axe was probably fitted into a slot cut through a wooden haft, or into the split end of the wood, and secured by thongs of hide or term (cord made from entrails of animals). No traces of any such handles have been found in Shetland, which is not surprising, as the wood was certain to be decomposed lying in the ground. That this, however, is the manner in which these weapons have been used is almost certain from the fact that the stone axes of the South Sea Islanders, which bear an extraordinary resemblance to the weapons of the north, are mounted in this fashion.

It must be remembered that in the early