The modern tomahawk shaft is usually less than in length, traditionally made of hickory, ash, or maple. The heads weigh anywhere from , with a cutting edge usually not much longer than from toe to heel. The poll can feature a hammer, spike, or may simply be rounded off, and they usually do not have lugs. These sometimes had a pipe-bowl carved into the poll, and a hole drilled down the center of the shaft for smoking tobacco through the tomahawk. There are also metal-headed versions of this unusual pipe. Pipe tomahawks are artifacts unique to North America: created by Europeans as trade objects but often exchanged as diplomatic gifts. They were symbols of the choice Europeans and Native Americans faced whenever they met: one end was the pipe of peace, the other an axe of war.