Bronze Dagger-Axe

The salient feature of this dagger-axe is the saw-tooth like edges, which are not sharpened. The Jinsha site has turned out a large number of such bronze dagger-axes, but the Sanxingdui site brought forth even more- 61 in all. The bronze dagger-axe was a most common weapon of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. But this dagger-axe was not sharpened and had no trace of being used, and it was too small to be of practical use. Therefore, researchers assumed it was used in ritual or religious activities, especially in dancing performance. So far the saw-toothed dagger-axe has only been found in the Jinsha and Sanxingdui sites, and it should be a peculiar bronze of ancient Shu culture.