This is a belt style axe recovered from a midden (refuse heap) in Fool Chief's Village. Fool Chief's Village, a Kansa village in Shawnee County, was the site of the 2012 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school, though excavations continued through 2012 and 2013. Belt style axes were common English and French fur trade items and were forged from a single band of iron folded in half and hammer welded together at the blade. An opening was left at the bend of the fold for the handle of the axe. As this axe shows evidence of battering on the top, it may have been used as an anvil.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Belt Style Axe from Fool Chief's Village, 14SH305 - 2