Ancient Rare Bronze Lugged Trunnion Axe from Anatolia Second Millennium BC

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This is a rare form of axe used in the Late Bronze Age that had ended by three thousand five hundred years ago. So this piece dates at about that time. My husband found it in Turkey in an antiquities dealer's shop. The Turkish government was no longer so permissive in allowing the export of such items, but this one had been allowed to stay in the dealer's shop for sale. The antiquities dealer had probably bought it from some farmer who had excavated it with his wooden plow as he tilled his fields.

Not knowing or caring about customs and export regulations, he only saw a chance to have some cash in hand with which to support his family and his farm. The dealer wrote a number on the ancient axe with a thick crayon and put it away until someone interested in the Bronze Age in Asia came along.

My husband was that buyer. He was happy to pay the man his asking price and put the axe into our collection of the few things that we could find available in such shops in Turkey at that time.
The little wings on the axe are called lugs or trunnions. They were used during the Late Bronze Age, about three thousand five hundred years ago, in Greece, the Greek islands Crete, Cyprus, in Anatolia and no doubt in other parts of the Near East.

At some point a dealer or the finder of this axe ran a rough file along the blade edge. You can still see the traces of the file. At least it shows the bronze through the heavy patina. This is rare and valuable and will add cultural value to your collection. For more information on this axe, go to CraftsofthePast

Measurements:
3 inches (7.5 cm) wide at the lugs x 5.75 inches (14 cm) long
5 mm thick (0.20 inch)