In the Bronze Age, bronze was used to produce special items, such as weapons, ritual objects, and personal ornaments for the ruling elite, but everyday items, such as axes, were primarily made from polished stone. Polished stone axes replaced earlier axes made from chipped stone, reflecting the advancement of techniques for grinding and polishing stone in the Neolithic period and Bronze Age. Most stone axes were used to chop trees or dig the earth, but they served a variety of other functions as well, as demonstrated by their variable shapes.