FORENSIC CLASSIFICATION OF BATTLE AXES

The essence of the definition of "battle axe" has been investigated. It is determined, that it is an axe, intended for use as a cutting, chopping-stabbing, chopping-slicing and chopping-stabbing-cutting cold weapon, and consists of an iron (percussive part with a blade) and a hatchet (handle). The history of the development of battle axes – from stone to modern ones – has been studied. The material for making axes has been deter-mined – stone, metal and other materials. For foot soldiers, a battle ax was often the main weapon, for horsemen – an auxiliary one. Battle axes were used mainly for close combat. Some types of axes were used for throwing. Axes were also widely used as ceremonial weapons. The battle ax has spread all over the world, different modifications of it have appeared in different regions. The reasons for the spread of the battle ax were the relative cheapness compared to the sword and the personal preferences of the owner. The purpose of the study was the formation of a forensic battle axes classification. The materials of the research were literary sources, scientific works and expert conclusions on the studied issues. On the basis of the conducted research, a forensic classification of battle axes is proposed. The main characteristics of battle axes include their type; method of action; application method; iron manufacturing technology; number of blades; blade shape; blade width; the presence of additional striking elements; iron material; the shape (cross-section) of the eyelet; the method of attaching the iron to the ax; ax length; ax shape; ax material; the way of holding (grasping) the ax; availability of additional accessories, tuning; the method of making an ax; time of


Introduction
The ax is one of the most ancient tools of man, which has faithfully served him both in the household and on the battlefield for thousands of years.
Battle ax (lat. Collidis) is an ax, intended for use as a cold weapon of hacking, hacking-stabbing, hacking-cutting and hacking-barbed-cutting action, which consists of an iron (a striking part with a blade) and an ax (a hatchet).
The battle ax became widespread all over the world, its various modifications appeared in different regions, including the following: celt, sagaris, Scandinavian battle axe, tomahawk, fokosh, francisca, labris, etc. The reasons for the battle ax spread were the relative cheapness compared to the sword and the personal owner preferences.

Literature review
It was made of stone, metal, and sometimes other materials and was used mainly for close combat [1,2]. For foot soldiers, the battle ax was often the main weapon, for horsemen it was an auxiliary weapon. Some types of axes were used for throwing. Axes were also widely used as ceremonial weapons [3,4].
The ax has come a long way through the millennia together with man and still remains a very popular tool [5,6]. Battle axes experienced a bit of a renaissance after the Vietnam War (1964)(1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975) and today are experiencing a new wave of popularity, which is contained in their versatility, although the battle ax is not convenient to cut down trees.

The purpose of the research
The aim of the research was to formation of a forensic classification of battle axes. To accomplish the aim, the following tasks have been set: 1) study of scientific literature related to the researched issues; 2) study of the normative and legal framework in relation to the researched issues; 3) identification of signs of battle axes classification; 4) development of battle axes classification.

Materials and methods
The research materials are literary sources, scientific works and expert conclusions on the researched issues. Internet resources, electronic resources and archival libraries collections were studied (Kharkiv State Scientific Library named after V. G. Korolenko, National Library of Ukraine named after V. I. Vernadskyi, National Library of Ukraine named after Ya. Roslav Mudry, National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine, etc.), world's leading museums electronic resources (Arms Museum in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the Egyptian Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose, the State Historical Museum, the Milne Museum, the Tower of London Museum, the Kirin Sequoia Museum, etc.).
Methods: content analysis, analysis and synthesis, logical. Content analysis is used to investigate the opinions of scientists regarding the features of battle axes classification; analysis and synthesis methodfor summarizing the material and forming features of battle axes classification and determining their belonging to these features; logical methodfor conclusions formulating.

Research results and discussion
On the basis of the conducted studies of scientific works [7,8] and expert experience, signs of the classification of battle axes were formed, to which the authors attributed: type of axes; method of action; application method; iron manufacturing technology; number of blades; blade shape; blade width; presence of additional striking elements; iron material; shape (section) of the eyelet; method of attaching the iron to the ax; ax length; ax shape; ax material; way of holding (grasping) the ax; availability of additional accessories, tuning; method of making the ax; production time; decoration of the structure. According to the types [9,10], battle axes are divided into: boarding (intrepel)a battle ax, used by military sailors and pirates during boarding at the sailing fleet; aybalta -a Central Asian battle ax with a semicircular blade; halberda contact weapon of hacking-cutting-stabbing action with a combat part that is attached to the ax with a socket and consists of a tip, a wide and long iron (more often in the shape of a crescent moon), sometimes a hook; -English long (Danish)an early type of battle ax, which consists of a wide thin blade with pronounced points in the area of the toe and beard; -African (kpinga, kelonda, etc.)an ax, used by African tribes; balta is the eastern name for a battle ax with a narrow blade; berdisha contact weapon of hacking-cutting action with an iron in the form of a wide cloth in the shape of a half-moon, which is attached to the ax with a loop and the lower part of the iron; beardeda type of battle or household ax, which is distinguished by the extension to the bottom of the front lower part of the blade (beard); brodaxa massive one-or two-handed battle ax with a half-moon-shaped iron, attached to the ax handle through the eyelet; valashka (bartka, fokosh, zallava, kelep)a traditional ax of the Carpathian highlanders, which is distinguished by a wedge-shaped iron with a narrow hole and a hammer-shaped buttstock; vulzha hacking-cutting-stabbing weapon, structurally similar to the berdish, but has a pronounced convexity of the blade with a free space between the handle and the blade; gwizarmaa type of halberd with a long, narrow, slightly curved tip, which has a straight, pointed branch at the end; gea Chinese combat weapon of barbed-chopping action, which was used from the era of the Shang dynasty to the Han dynasty; glaivea contact long-armed weapon of hacking-cutting-stabbing action with a long, narrow iron with a point and hooks on the buttstock, which is attached to the ax with a socket; dadaoa type of Chinese halberd, consisting of an ax blade that exceeds the length of the handle; dafua Chinese two-year-old battle ax up to 1000 mm; longa battle ax with a long, narrow blade; dong sona Vietnamese battle axe; diaoa Chinese battle ax with a semicircular sharpened buttstock; celta type of bronze ax and hoe with a sleeve at the buttstock, directed perpendicular to the blade, into which a bent or straight ax was inserted; keteriyaan one-handed battle ax of ancient Sri Lanka, which consisted of a solid iron and a short wooden ax; klevets (kelep)a cold weapon of barbed-chopping action on a short handle, the faceted and narrow fighting part of which resembles a bird's beak with a hammer-like buttstock; labrysan ancient Greek two-sided battle or ceremonial ax, common in the culture of the pre-Greek Minoan civilization; lohaberaxta German halberd with a wavy blade and a hook at the upper end of the ax; masakaria Japanese combat ax on a long (up to 2000 mm) handle with heavy iron, which has a semicircular blade and a massive buttstock; onoa Japanese ax with a wide blade and a not massive buttstock, sometimes a fighting stick is in the form of a scroll; total lengthup to 1800 mm; palstaba celt with a tip in the form of a hoe, mounted on an ax; panabasa Filipino one-or two-handed battle ax; parashu (farasa)an ancient Indian battle ax, made of ordinary steel and bamboo; polexa battle ax on a long handle (hatchet), equipped with a battle hammer and a faceted spear, a distinctive feature is a long spike on the top; raifuan ancient Japanese stone ax; sagaris (sagara)a Persian (Saka) two-sided battle ax with a long thin handle, an elongated blade with a heavy bent or pointed buttstock; -Samoana battle club in the form of an ax, intended for breaking skulls and bones; axa contact weapon of hacking-cutting action with an iron with a wide blade in the shape of a half-moon, which is attached to the ax with an eyelet; -Scandinaviana Northern European medieval battle ax with a thin wide blade that diverges symmetrically; sovniaa European cold weapon of the 15th century, similar to a straightened scythe; tabara Rajputan battle ax with a semicircular blade and a thin handle; toki kakauroaa New Zealand battle axe, derived from the New Zealand battle club; tomahawka battle ax of North American Indians; franciscaa battle ax of the Franks and other Germanic tribes with an arc-shaped iron, which expands in the direction of the cutting edge; fua Chinese battle weapon with an iron similar in shape to an ax; fuetsuan ancient Japanese metal ax; khyrbat (wallbat)a European medieval simple throwing weapon, which is a small all-metal, roughly made ax, without any coating of the ax with two sharpened processes in the upper part and a sharpening at the end of the ax; -Chekana contact weapon of shock-stabbing-shattering action with a combat part, consisting of a striker and a beak, which is attached to the ax with an eyelet; -Swissa two-handed battle ax with metal strips along the ax for protection and a faceted metal beak, sharpened for piercing armor and helmets; shuangfua one-handed double battle axe; yueheavy axes common in the Zhou dynasty. According to the method of action [11,12], battle axes are divided into the following types: chopperan ax, intended for inflicting chopper injuries; chopping-spikingan ax, designed for inflicting chopping and pricking injuries; chopping-stabbing-cuttingan ax, intended for inflicting chopping, pricking and cutting injuries; chopping-cutting axan ax, designed for inflicting chopping and cutting injuries. According to the method of application [13,14], there are: contact battle axan ax that is held in the hand during use; throwing battle axan ax, designed to hit a target at a distance. The classification of battle axes according to the technology of making the iron, the number, shape and width of the blade, the presence of additional striking elements, the material of the iron, the shape (section) of the loop, the method of attaching the iron to the ax, the shape and material of the ax, the presence of additional accessories, tuning are given in Table 1 [15].