I'm cross posting this from my forum. I posted this a while ago and it pertains to axe heads in Maine. Perhaps this might help you a little? This information may not be true for other parts of the U.S.
Finding an old axe head while detecting can range from a cool find for some to a piece of just junk to others. Regardless, the next time you find an old axe head, take a good look at it before you toss it in the garbage. It can tell you what else you might expect from the soils you are digging.
Here's some information I pulled from a Book called A Day's Work, Part 1
Axes prevailed in the Maine woods until about 1900, when the cross-cut saws with raker teeth were introduced. (So, process of elimination ... if you find an old axe head deep in the ground you'll probably be finding pre-1900 items).
The styles of axes differ with nationalities. Here's a recap:
Canadian: broad, square blade with the weight more in the blade (hence, old Canadian coins might be found)
Down-East logger from Maine: long narrow head, the blade in cresent shape, the heaviest part in the top of the head above the eye.
New York cutters: broad, cresent shaped blade, the whole head rather short and the weight balanced evenly above and below the eye (where the handle goes through).
West back-woodsman: a blade with only the corners rounded off, and the eye holds the weight of the axe.
American chopper: long straight handle (tough to find since it would probably be deteriorated).
That's the basics from the read in the book. It all makes a difference in the handling of the axe. Different nationalities learned to chop trees in different manners and their axes were designed accordingly. There's more information in the book to support the information posted, but I won't get into that. I just wanted to share the basics with you all so you could at least get an inkling at what information a simple axe head could offer.
Good luck!
