NigeriaParade axe from Nigeria, Africa. Collected by Roger Meaden or Rupert Major Downes. Given to the Museum in 1933.

Such 'tongue-as-blade' axes occur throughout Western and Central Africa. They are impractical as weapons and are instead widely recognised as symbols of authority and power, worn over the shoulder of high status individuals. This brass and iron example belonged to the Kunav clan of the Tiv, a people of South Benue province in Nigeria. The Tiv also use recovered Neolithic versions of these axes in religious rituals.