The pictures of the Suriname axe article

Picture in text

The hafted axe recovered from the Suriname River in November 1998.

Figure 1

Map of Central Suriname. The location where the axe was found is marked by a red dot. The double black lines are main roads.

Figure 2

The well-polished blade. Its symmetry and the hafting are well visible on this picture. The max length of the blade at the cutting edge is 9,5 cm.

Figure 3

he handle and the blade are connected by a part of resin or natural rubber. In- side this part is still another component: a tar-like thick brown fluid.

Figure 4

The extremely long handle of the axe from the Suriname River studied in this paper

Figure 5

The handle is cracked as a result of immersion in water during centuries and subsequent exposure to dry conditions

Figure 6

Parallel striations in the resin or natural rubber part of the axe are visible in the
upper left corner of this picture.These suggest that lianas or bush-rope streng-
thened the connection between handle and blade.
Several of the comparable complete axes (discussed elsewhere in this paper) show
up clear cross-lines from binding materials, for instance the axe from Saut Tourépé in the Lower Approuague in French Guiana (Fig. 14).

Figure 7

Circular indentations are present at both sides of the rubber part of the axe

Figure 8

The resin (or natural rubber) part has two long cracks parallel to the handle and one at ca 90 degrees to this. Inside this part is still another component: a very thick brown fluid that flows slowly out of the latter fissure when the axe is set
upside down for a long period of time.<

Figure 9

The axe from Matarony River. Its length is 58 cm. After Rostain, 1994:fig. 184.

Figure 10

Connection of axe blade and handle. The white color patches are ancient repairs.

Figure 11

The Matarony axe and part of the handle. Private Collection, A.G.A.E., Cayenne.

Figure 12

An axe from the Approuague River in French Guiana. The handle of this specimen has not been preserved but the connection between the handle and blade is present. After Vacher et al., 1998:fig. 77-1.

Figure 13

An axe from Crique Benoit, Approuague River in French Guiana. Only part of the handle of this specimen has been preserved to a length of 17,5 cm. The diameter of the handle is 2.8 cm. The handle seems to have been sawed off at ca 5 cm from the blade.

Figure 14

The decorated axe from Saut Tourépé, Approuague River in French Guiana. The handle of this specimen was carved into a human figure. Lips, nose,eyes, head covering, and two arms on the stomach are indicated. There are two separate legs and a third item that could represent a loincloth. Cross bindings strengthen the hafting. The bindings have gone at present but have left their traces in the adhesive material (resin or natural rubber). This axe probably had a high symbolical value. The fact that the head of the person was originally masked by the binding materials strengthens the opinion that this artefact had a symbolical value.

Figure 15

The axe from the Tourépé Falls, Lower Approuague River in French Guiana. Coll° Cauvin, A.R.A. Photograph A. Cornette

Figure 16

The axe from the Mapaou, Lower Approuague River in French Guiana. Coll° A.G.A.E., Cayenne.

Figure 17

The axe from the Mapaou, Lower Approuague River in French Guiana. Coll° A.G.A.E., Cayenne.

Figure 18

Axe recovered from the Mapaou, Lower Approuague River in French Guiana. Coll° A.G.A.E., Cayenne. See also Fig. 17. Slide by P. Leonetti.

Figure 19

Axe with part of its handle recovered from the Mapaou, Lower Approuague River in French Guiana. Coll° A.G.A.E., Cayenne. This blade is the longest (23,5 cm)of all the exes studied in this paper. See also Fig. 20.

Figure 20

Axe with part of its handle recovered from the Mapaou, Lower Approuague River in French Guiana. Coll° A.G.A.E., Cayenne. See also Fig. 19. Slide by P. Leonetti.

Figure 21

Axe with resin part that connects it to the handle. Abaebetuba, Lower Amazon, near Belém. After Rostain, 1994:fig. 178

Figure 22

Handle of the axe shown in Fig. 21. The reconstructed length of three parts is 22.5. The handle was originally longer. Abaebetuba Island, Lower Amazon, near Belém. After Hilbert, 1989:fig. 2.

Figure 23

Axe with resin part that connects it to the handle.One of the preserved parts of the handle is shown here. Abaebetuba Island, Lower Amazon, near Belém. Photograph S. Rostain

Figure 24

The axe recovered from the Mazaruni River in Guiana. Note the knob at the end of the handle. After Williams, 1978:55.

Figure 25

The axe recovered from the Mazaruni River in Guiana. After Rostain, 1994:fig.181.

Figure 26

Akurio axe obtained by André Cognat in 1968 near the Litany River in the south of French Guiana. Max. length 28,5 cm. See also Rostain, 1994:fig. 192. Collection André Cognat.

Figure 27

Grinding grooves at Cayenne Island. Some prehistoric axe blades and a replica of the axe from Matarony River (no 1) are also in this picture.

Figure 28

War club with stone axe blade. After Stedman, 1974:fig.XXIII.

Figure 29

Axe-blades are, during use,exposed mainly to two risks: a transversal fracture (1) and a pseudo-coche (2). The stone axe recently recovered from the Suriname River shows a smal pseudo-coche. Cutting in narrow openings in a piece of wood (see 3) causes the pseudo-coche.

Figure 30

A notched blade from an Aristé site in the Monts de l'Observatoire in East French Guiana was reused as an anvil or hammering stone, probably to fragment quartz. After Rostain, 1994:fig 158,#90pat10).

Figure 31

A broken notched blade in an Arauquinoid site near Kourou was refashioned by percussion to make a new tool with a new cutting edge. After Rostain, 1994:fig 197,2.

Figure 32 = Figure 26

Akurio axe obtained by André Cognat in 1968 near the Litany River in the south of French Guiana. Max. length 28,5 cm. See also Rostain, 1994:fig.
192. Collection André Cognat.

Figure 33

Small anchor axes are used for cermonies by the Apinye, after Nimuendaju, 1983:69.

Figure 34

Modern baníwa axe, Rio Atabayo, Brazil. After Rostain, 1994:fig. 184

Figure 35

Wooden shovel or spade from the Prins Bernhard Polder site, cf Versteeg, 1985:fig. 51. Raised agricultural plots and mounds were probably made with such hardwood tools in prehistory. Length ca. 70 cm.

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Last update 29 October 1999