The axe was found at Paimio, not far from Turku in the southwest.

Because of the acidity of the soil, once buried, organic materials are rarely preserved in Finland. However, this bronze axe, which was mounted on a handle of ash wood, somehow made its way into coastal waters where in sank to the bottom and was covered by sediments that preserved a portion of the haft inside the axe itself.

Only around 150 artefacts from the Bronze Age have been found in Finland. The Paimio axe has proven to be an especially significant discovery because the preserved wood of the haft could be radiocarbon dated.

A sliver of the wood was sent to a laboratory in Uppsala, Sweden where it was dated to the Early Bronze Age, a period in Finland 1600-1400 years before the start of the present era. This makes the Paimio axe the oldest of its kind found in the country and the only one so far accurately dated. The axe represents an eastern style of its period of manufacture, but could well have been cast locally.

At the time that the Paimio axe was made, bronze was a costly imported metal alloy. Most tools were still made of stone. If the axe was not accidentally lost by its ancient owner, the valuable object may have been a votive offering intentionally thrown into the waters as a sacrifice.

Sea levels were higher in the early Bronze Age than during the present day. During the Bronze Age, the site where the Paimio axe was discovered was covered by a small bay.