![]() ![]() The word mattock is of unclear origin one theory traces it from Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European. Look up mattock in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Mattocks made of whalebone were used for tasks including flensing – stripping blubber from the carcass of a whale – by the broch people of Scotland and by the Inuit. They were probably used chiefly for digging, and may have been related to the rise of agriculture. Mattocks made from antlers first appear in the British Isles in the Late Mesolithic. Mattocks ( Greek: μάκελλα) are the most commonly depicted tool in Byzantine manuscripts of Hesiod's Works and Days. According to Sumerian mythology, the mattock was invented by the god Enlil. Their shape was already established by the Bronze Age in Asia Minor and ancient Greece. History Īs a simple but effective tool, mattocks have a long history. Ĭutter mattocks ( Swahili: jembe-shoka) are used in rural Africa for removing stumps from fields, including unwanted banana suckers. The adze of a mattock is useful for digging or hoeing, especially in hard soil. The use of a mattock can be tiring because of the effort needed to drive the blade into the ground, and the amount of bending and stooping involved. They can also be used to dig holes for planting into, and are particularly useful where there is a thick layer of matted sod. They can be used to chop into the ground with the adze and pull the soil towards the user, opening a slit to plant into. Mattocks are "the most versatile of hand-planting tools". A pick mattock combines the function of a pick and adze, with a pointed end opposite an adze blade.īoth are used for grubbing in hard soils and rocky terrain, with the pick mattock having the advantage of a superior penetrating tool over the cutter mattock, which excels at cutting roots.A cutter mattock combines the functions of an axe and adze, with its axe blade oriented vertically and longer adze horizontally.The form of the head determines the kind and uses of the mattock: A mattock head typically weighs 3–7 lb (1.4–3.2 kg). The head consists of two ends, opposite each other and separated by a central eye. It is also commonly known in North America as a "grub axe".Ī mattock has a shaft, typically made of wood, which is 3–4 ft (0.9–1.2 m) long. A cutter mattock is similar to a Pulaski used in fighting fires. Similar to the pickaxe, it has a long handle and a stout head which combines either a vertical axe blade with a horizontal adze ( cutter mattock), or a pick and an adze ( pick mattock). A "cutter mattock" combines both axe and adze blades.Ī mattock / ˈ m æ t ə k/ is a hand tool used for digging, prying, and chopping.
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