Most of the neolithic rock carvings in Brittany feature the axe head. This is a pretty obvious representation of the polished axe heads found throughout the region in huge numbers.
What's very interesting about these axes, is that many of them are unused, or made from materials that make them completely impractical to use. Often they come to light in large caches.
It's pretty obvious they're meant as currency, or at least a show of status. From an anthropological point of view, that makes a lot of sense: for almost all of human history, the axe (not the knife, sorry bushcrafters!) has been the universal tool. We have been reliant on wood for our survival, and a small axe is able to do everything we need to do to make other tools, weapons, and prepare our food. If we look at Oetzi's gear, the most valuable item in his gear was his axe.
So one axe represents survival. What happens if you lose your axe? You are then dependent upon the assistance of others. An axe represents independence. A *spare* axe represents wealth - even if you lose an axe, you're still capable of caring for yourself. So a man with 3 axes, or even more, is wealthy indeed.....
links:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=6924
http://www.megalithic-visions.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Symbols.AxeCarving
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