Axes have been used as farming tools since the Old Stone Age. Big stone axes have been unearthed in the relics of Xiachuan in Shanxi Province lately, which are twenty thousand years old. And evidence shows that the stone ax was a very popular tool among the residents of Qishan on the Huangtu Gaoyuan plateau 8000 thousand years ago. Stone axes having holes drilled in them to make them easier to use have been found in the relics of Dawunkou. There are delicate patterns engraved on the shafts of bronze axes made in the Shang Dynasty. These bronze axes are obviously made to be carried by the honor guard.