Middle and Late Bronze Age Metal Tools from the Aegean, Eastern ...

goods; and 3) access to raw materials for crafting was in all likelihood easier at major
centers. Regarding the MH evidence, Iakovidis envisions indigenous, independent smiths
whose operations served local needs. 228 This scenario is supported by the early MH
metallurgical evidence at Nichoria (Area V) in the form of hearths, crucible fragments,
slag, and ash. 229 There are only five metallurgical implements (see Fig. 3.14c) from the
second millennium on the Greek islands: 1 mold from Ayia Irini, 2 tongs from Kos, and 2
molds from Phylakopi. The dearth of metallurgical tools on the islands suggests that the
tradition of metallurgy, well attested in this area during the third millennium, was limited
and unimpressive in the MBA and LBA. 230
Our understanding of island metalworking
practices during the second millennium will likely be enhanced by future excavations.
The apparent constraint in metalworking from this region suggests, for the time being,
that the raw materials and necessary tools for metalworking were not widely dispersed,
probably being restricted to significant island centers (Ayia Irini, Phylakopi, Akrotiri),
Crete and the mainland. Perhaps Minoan and later Mycenaean metallurgical practices
controlled resources and craftspersons, thus hindering such craft activity on the islands.
The exact role of the Mycenaean palaces in metallurgical production is unclear, as
the archaeometallurgical evidence fails to measure up to the picture painted by the
archival records. The irregularity of metalworking tools on the mainland provides a stark
contrast to the Linear B evidence and makes problematic the prominence of indigenous
Mycenaean metal smiths unless the written evidence from Pylos is not relevant for other
areas of Mycenaean habitation. Although the Knossian Linear B tablets refer to bronze
228 Iakovidis 1982, 213.
229 McDonald 1975, 109-110; Howell 1992, 26-27.
230 Branigan 1969; 1974.
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