ABSTRACT
This chapter argues for a relevance of an interpretative approach that works from the perspective of production. It focuses on intentionality and attempts to uncover whether there was a right beginning for axes. Metal circulated throughout prehistoric Europe and thus ingots, in the broadest sense, must have existed. If an ingot is conceptualised purely as a store of raw material, it follows that every single axe in this study, and all metal objects and scrap for that matter, are essentially ingots. The axe may be cleaned of its casting traces, though even this is not necessary for its basic purpose. A recipe for a more formalised axe-ingot may have existed, but at the moment the evidence is too scarce to draw such a conclusion. Axe-ingots were found to have few mechanical concerns beyond the inherent requirement to be made of metal, which suits their function as a store of raw material.
