I've seen where it was stated that the "prong" side was hacked into the ground & the ax side used for a cutting station.
The ritualistic taking of heads was varied between groups. What really controlled the population was never ending acts of retaliation. The kin of someone that lost their head would attempt to capture the head of the original head taker. If they couldn't find him, they would go after next of kin or anyone they could find in his clan.
Early American governors out-lawed the taking of heads & negotiated a series of "bodong" or peace pacts, that greatly reduced the taking of heads.
Tattooing was varied between the groups but was often a sign of a successful head taker. Since next of kin was wanted for revenge, the wife of a head taker would also have tattoos that could id her, if she became a victim.
If you look at early pictures, 1900-1930, you often see heavily tattooed men & quite a few head ax's. From the 1930's & on, both the tattooing & carrying of head ax's diminish.
Masferre's photo's (1934-56) in "People of Philippine Cordillera" pretty clearly shows this. Only one picture of a man with a head ax & he had just came back from a trip to another village. Also the 20 years of his pictures suggest the tattooing had decreased.
Not to say head taking had completely stopped in this time period but it certainly became infrequent.
I'm leaning the head ax was for taking of heads & most would pre-date 1940, with the exception of those that were specifically made to sell to GI's as souvenirs.
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