Head axe | |
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Type | Axe |
Place of origin | Philippines |
Service history | |
Used by | Cordilleran peoples (Igorot) |
The head axe, also known as headhunter's axe, is a battle axe of the Cordilleran peoples of the Philippines specialized for beheading enemy combatants during headhunting raids. They are distinctively shaped, with a concave or straight thin blade and an elongated backward spike on the upper corners of the poll. Their native names and designs varied by ethnic group, ranging from axes with curving slender designs to heavy axes with short heads and straight edges. Head axes, like most other pre-colonial bladed weapons of the Philippines, were also utilitarian. They were also used for cutting trees, clearing undergrowth, or even cutting hair. [1] [2] [3] Smaller hatchet-like versions were used by women for agricultural work.
Head axes are most widely known as aliwa among the Apayao (Isneg) and Itneg people, a name which has carried over to the lowlander Ilocano people. They are also known as gaman among the Ifugao and Itneg people; pinong, pin-nang, or pinangas among the Bontoc people; sinawit among the Kalinga people; wasay among the Kankanaey people; and guwasay among the Ibaloi people. [4]
Head axes all have long slender spikes on the upper back edge of the poll. Unlike European axes, the head axe is thin throughout because the haft does not go through the axe-head. It is only attached to the base of the blade via a metal tang that is bound to the wood by a metal ring, similar to bolos and other native Filipino swords. They also have a protruding stub or spur near the bottom end of the wooden haft for better grip. [4] [5]
Among the Ifugao and Kalinga, the axe-head generally has a curving concave front upper edge (the toe) and a concave bit. Among the Itneg and Bontoc, the upper edge and the bit are generally straight, with shorter axe-heads. The Apayao design is unique in that the length of the axe-head is longer, resembling a short bolo or a panabas, with a concave bit and a straight upper edge. [4] [5]
Head axes, along with bolos, were used in close-quarters combat alongside the kalasag shield. The shield has specially-designed prongs on both the upper and lower edges. The three upper prongs were designed to be thrust unto an enemy's legs and were quickly twisted to trip them; while the two lower prongs were designed to fit over the neck of a downed enemy for decapitation with the axe. [5]
Not all head axes were used for warfare. Among the Ibaloi people, the guwasay was only used as a tool, with other weapons (like spears, war clubs, and bows) being preferred in warfare. Among the Kankanaey, head axes are differentiated into ones used for headhunting and ones used only for utilitarian purposes. [4]
Small hatchet-like versions known as the iko were also used by Apayao women for harvesting crops and other various utilitarian purposes. These were distinctively tucked into the headdresses of women when they were out working on the fields. [4]
Head axes were outlawed, along with headhunting practices, during the American colonial period of the Philippines in the early 20th century. They have largely been replaced with the bolos of lowlander Filipino cultures. [1]
Benguet, officially the Province of Benguet, is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the island of Luzon. Its capital is La Trinidad.
Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao, is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela to the east, and Nueva Vizcaya to the south.
Mountain Province is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc while Bauko is the largest municipality. Mountain Province was formerly referred to as Mountain in some foreign references. The name is usually shortened by locals to Mt. Province.
Apayao, officially the Province of Apayao, is a landlocked province in the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Kabugao serves as its capital. The provincial capitol and its associated offices are located at the New Government Center in Luna.
The Cordillera Administrative Region, also known as the Cordillera Region and Cordillera, is an administrative region in the Philippines, situated within the island of Luzon. It is the only landlocked region in the archipelago, bordered by the Ilocos Region to the west and southwest, and by the Cagayan Valley Region to the north, east, and southeast.
The Cordillera Central or Cordillera Range is a massive mountain range 320 kilometres (200 mi) long north–south and 118 kilometres (73 mi) east-west situated in the north-central part of the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. The mountain range encompasses all provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region, as well as portions of eastern Ilocos Norte, eastern Ilocos Sur, eastern La Union, northeastern Pangasinan, western Nueva Vizcaya, and western Cagayan.
A battle axe is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were designed differently to utility axes, with blades more akin to cleavers than to wood axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-handed.
The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples, are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains are in the Cordillera Mountain Range, altogether numbering about 1.8 million people in the early 21st century.
The legislative districts of Mountain Province are the representations of Mountain Province in the various national legislatures of the Philippines. The province is currently represented in the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines through its lone congressional district.
The Gaddang language is spoken by up to 30,000 speakers in the Philippines, particularly along the Magat and upper Cagayan rivers in the Region II provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela and by overseas migrants to countries in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, in the Middle East, United Kingdom and the United States. Most Gaddang speakers also speak Ilocano, the lingua franca of Northern Luzon, as well as Tagalog and English. Gaddang is associated with the "Christianized Gaddang" people, and is closely related to the highland tongues of Ga'dang with 6,000 speakers, Yogad, Cagayan Agta with less than 1,000 and Atta with 2,000, and more distantly to Ibanag, Itawis, Isneg and Malaweg.
The Ifugao people are the ethnic group inhabiting Ifugao province in the Philippines. They reside in the municipalities of Lagawe, Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Lamut, Mayoyao, and Tinoc. The province is one of the smallest provinces in the Philippines with an area of only 251,778 hectares, or about 0.8% of the total Philippine land area. As of 1995, the population of the Ifugaos was counted to be 131,635. Although the majority of them are still in Ifugao province, some of them have moved to Baguio, where they work as woodcarvers, and to other parts of the Cordillera Region.
The Kalinga people are an indigenous ethnic group whose ancestral domain is in the Cordillera Mountain Range of the northern Philippines. They are mainly found in Kalinga province which has an area of 3,282.58 sq. km. Some of them, however, already migrated to Mountain Province, Apayao, Cagayan, and Abra. The Kalinga numbered 163,167 as of 2010.
The panabas is a chopping bladed weapon or tool from the Philippines, variously described as both a sword and a battle axe. It has a distinctive long straight haft and a curving blade of various designs. It can range in size from 2 to 4 feet and can be held with one or both hands, delivering a deep, meat cleaver-like cut.
The Kalaság or Kalasak is a large rectangular wooden shield used by precolonial Filipinos. The shield is made of hardwood and is decorated with intricate carvings and an elaborate rattan binding on the front. The wood comes from native trees such as the dapdap, polay and sablang. The shield usually measured about 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in length and 0.5 m (1.6 ft) in width. Its base is composed of rattan wood which is strengthened by the application of resin coating that turned rock-hard upon drying.
The indigenous peoples of the Philippines are ethnolinguistic groups or subgroups that maintain partial isolation or independence throughout the colonial era, and have retained much of their traditional pre-colonial culture and practices.
The Itneg are an Austronesian indigenous peoples from the upland province of Abra and Nueva Era, Ilocos Norte in northwestern Luzon, Philippines.
The pasiking is the indigenous basket-backpack found among the various ethno-linguistic groups of Northern Luzon in the Philippines. Pasiking designs have sacred allusions, although most are purely aesthetic. These artifacts, whether handwoven traditionally or with contemporary variations, are considered exemplars of functional basketry in the Philippines and among Filipinos.
The Bontoc ethnolinguistic group can be found in the central and eastern portions of Mountain Province, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Although some Bontocs of Natonin and Paracelis identify themselves as Balangaos, Gaddangs or Kalingas, the term "Bontoc" is used by linguists and anthropologists to distinguish speakers of the Bontoc language from neighboring ethnolinguistic groups. They formerly practiced head-hunting and had distinctive body tattoos.
Batok, batek, patik, batik, or buri, among other names, are general terms for indigenous tattoos of the Philippines. Tattooing on both sexes was practiced by almost all ethnic groups of the Philippine Islands during the pre-colonial era. Like other Austronesian groups, these tattoos were made traditionally with hafted tools tapped with a length of wood. Each ethnic group had specific terms and designs for tattoos, which are also often the same designs used in other art forms and decorations such as pottery and weaving. Tattoos range from being restricted only to certain parts of the body to covering the entire body. Tattoos were symbols of tribal identity and kinship, as well as bravery, beauty, and social or wealth status.