This hafted stone axe is from the Copiapó Province in the Atacama Region, a desert area in northern Chile.  It was likely made by the Atacameño people, but the age is unknown.

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The axe’s cutting edge was expertly ground onto a flat cobble or slab of volcanic stone with minimal prior flaking or pecking.  The method used to hold the axe onto the wood handle is obscured by the vegetable-fibre binding.  The handle appears to have been cut off with a metal saw, and it may have originally been longer.

The axe was donated in 1888 to the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Chile, where it is presently curated.