Great question and should be an interesting discussion. I have noticed that most of the tomahawks that I've seen have a tapered shaft, and the eye of the head is tapered larger at the top, so that the handle is slipped down through the top of the head, and the head is secured to the handle because the largest diameter of the handle is at the top. I hope you get the idea, as my explanation is probably more complicated than necessary. A picture is worth a thousand words. Pick handles are still made this way today, I think.