A hole in an implement or weapon to hold the haft. A shaft-hole ax is an ax-head of metal or stone with a hole through it for hafting. Bronze axes and adzes from Mesopotamia of at least 2700 BC are shaft-hole types, the hole for the handle being formed in a mold. This method eliminated lashing the blades and permitted a heavier head than the thin-bladed Egyptian models. Shaft-hole axes and adzes were also being cast in Crete in about 2000 BC. The Beaker folk, Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age people living about 6,000 years ago in Europe, also used the shaft-hole battle-ax.