Excavated Battleaxe with Integral Langets

[BUCC_Guy]

The enlarged, conical socket was used on axes to some degree from the Bronze Age to the 19th century, as was combining an axe with a hammer.

However, separate and distinct langets plus holes for securing nails would suggest more of a weapon than a tool (could be used for both, of course), and the size and design leads me to think 14th-15th century, based on the nearly flat upper plane and extended beard. Previously sold, similar blades with perfectly flat tops were usually described as “Gothic axe” blades.

Any of these style blades with large proportions inevitably get marketed as “executioners axes,” so buyer beware on those.

I’ve attached a stock photo of a 15th-16th c. example with similar proportions.

I couldn’t begin to guess as to what European region it could be from.