Asymmetric axes: aspects of use

The article discusses the axes with asymmetrical blades whose typological and technological features have been described in the previous volumes of this annual. The article presents the evidence for a possible use of massive axes of type 3 for cutting trees, as well as the data of the written sources of the 16th century on the use of these axes as throwing weapons and close combat striking weapons for warfare in forest lands. Several narratives from the folklore of the population living in Western Siberian taiga concerning warfare and siege practices are analyzed, and the issue of realism in the heroic descriptions is addressed. The presence of the main frontal side in these axes, which was important for military ceremonies, is noted.