You are absolutely correct: axes are encountered in virtually every culture since times immemorial. But I was talking about the length of the haft.
Bartka/valaska of the Carpathian region, Alpenstock of the Alps region, Jerz/ Qaddum of the Southern Aravia all have very long ( ~1 meter) hafts. They are “multitools”, serving not only chopping function, but also helping in walking/ climbing over mountains. And all of them are first and foremost walking aids.
Thus, their small size of axheads might have been a compromise between the efficiency of only occasional need of chopping and the disadvantage of their weights ( compromising walking/climbing). Pure speculation on my part:-)
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