The hatchets, however, are generally speaking, small in size. Their length varies from 2 to 8 inches, and their width, at the cutting edge, from 1½ to 2 inches. Fig. 155 represents one of the flint hatchets. They are the same shape as the Danish hatchets during the polished-stone epoch.
Fig. 155.—Stone Hatchet from the Lacustrine Habitations of Switzerland.
The most simple plan of fixing a handle to the small-sized hatchets, which were in fact chisels, consisted in inserting them into a piece of stag's horn, hollowed out for this purpose at one end. In this way they obtained a kind of chisel which was very ready of use. Fig. 156 represents this kind of handle.
Fig. 156.—Stone Chisel with Stag's-horn Handle from the Lacustrine Habitations of Switzerland.
There was also another mode of fixing handles to these instruments. The shaped flint was previously fixed in a holder of stag's horn. This holder was itself perforated through the middle with a round hole, in order to receive a wooden handle. It then became a complete hatchet.