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

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egion. The proportions of carpentry/masonry tools for LBA Crete, Anatolia <strong>and</strong> Syria-<br />

Palestine are also impressive. The Cretan <strong>and</strong> Anatolian percentages increased slightly,<br />

while a palpable reduction in <strong>the</strong> percentage of carpentry/masonry tools is detectable in<br />

Syria-Palestine, though <strong>the</strong>y remained popular in that area. The prominence of<br />

carpentry/masonry tools in <strong>the</strong>se regions is unmistakable <strong>and</strong> coincides with <strong>the</strong><br />

architectural developments of <strong>the</strong> late second millennium.<br />

The Greek mainl<strong>and</strong> yielded a distribution of carpentry/masonry tools that one<br />

would expect for that region: a relatively low number of examples (16 tools) during <strong>the</strong><br />

MH era when architectural developments lagged behind, <strong>and</strong> a dramatic increase in <strong>the</strong><br />

LH period (306 examples) when Mycenaean palaces <strong>and</strong> impressive tombs decorated <strong>the</strong><br />

l<strong>and</strong>scape (Fig. 3.26b). The Cypriot pattern, however, defies expectations. The<br />

development of 13 th <strong>and</strong> 12 th century urban sites with well-cut masonry should<br />

correspond to major changes in <strong>the</strong> carpentry/masonry tool quantities <strong>and</strong> types. 287<br />

Yet<br />

<strong>the</strong>re is only a meager increase in <strong>the</strong> consumption of <strong>the</strong>se implements on Cyprus, <strong>from</strong><br />

167 to 183 tools. The incidence of construction tools throughout <strong>the</strong> Cypriot second<br />

millennium varied minimally, falsely implying that <strong>the</strong> associated construction industries<br />

remained relatively consistent. Yet this pattern of tool dispersal suggests that <strong>the</strong><br />

carpentry/masonry industries on LBA Cyprus probably developed indigenously. Despite<br />

this intra-isl<strong>and</strong> perspective, <strong>the</strong> regional percentage of <strong>the</strong> LBA wood- <strong>and</strong> stone-<br />

working tools on Cyprus (34%) parallels <strong>the</strong> proportions found on <strong>the</strong> Greek mainl<strong>and</strong><br />

(32.3%) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> shipwrecks (30.8%). Regarding <strong>the</strong> shipwreck data, we must<br />

acknowledge that <strong>the</strong> sample is vanishingly small with only two wrecks. <strong>Metal</strong> hoards<br />

with carpentry/masonry tools are typical of both Cyprus <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> mainl<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> this is<br />

287 For an overview of <strong>the</strong>se major sites in <strong>the</strong> LC IIC-IIIA period, see Knapp 2008, 211-239.<br />

116

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