SHARPENED ‘ZHANG’ AXE-HEAD

China

Year c. 2070-1600 BCE

Materials Polished stone, polished stone with various shades of green and gray veins

Inventory Cp/1

Dimensions 6,5 x 22,2 cm

Definition Weapon or scepter

Collection

China

Additional Infos Provenance: Central-northern China (Henan?)

Description The stone slab from which this object was obtained is 1 cm thick, and has the typical shape of a zhang. The long blade has a trapezoidal shape, wider at the concave front where it is sharpened on both faces. At the base of the blade the object widens on both sides by a few millimeters. This protrusion continues smooth and beveled on one side by 3.4 cm, serrated in irregular notches on the other side by 3.8 cm. The object then narrows again into a rectangular tang, perforated in the center. Objects of this type, probably intended for ritual and symbolic are found in large numbers at sites of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE across much of China.