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

instruments during the course of the second millennium may reflect changes in the
perception of the utensils. In the MBA, metal tools were scarcer, and their deposition in
burials perhaps was made with prestigious overtones. By the LBA, metal tools were more
ubiquitous, making them less desirable objects for inclusion with burials.
Tool types: Various forms of chisels and axes make up the greatest share of the
carpentry/masonry tools (Figs. 3.29; 3.30). Axes are broadly divided into the following
categories: single/flat; shaft hole/collared; lugged/trunnion; and double ended or
combination tools. Double axes, ax-adzes and ax-hammers are some examples of
combination implements, whereby ax forms were incorporated into the tool design. A
range of chisel forms exist, but the implements may be divided roughly into two basic
groupings: narrow and broad. Narrow chisels have a cutting width typically less than 1.5
centimeters, while broad chisels often have cutting widths between 3.0 and 5.0
centimeters. In addition to this basic distinction, chisels are classified by other means as
well, including: socketed; deep bar or mortise; cold; and bit-sized. Axes and chisels are
cutting implements, equally useful on wood or stone materials depending on the tool’s
morphology (and the softness of the stone). Three additional and significant tool types are
drills, adzes, and saws. Each of these implements has several different variations of its
form. The combined popularity of the drills, adzes and saws do match that of chisels and
axes. As previously mentioned, some tools straddle multiple categories. For example,
broad chisels could function as axes and vice versa, and this flexibility of identity is
considered more closely in Chapter 4.
The chronological distribution of the carpentry/masonry tool types (Figs. 3.30,
3.31a-g) reveals their popularity. There are idiosyncratic trends of selection for each tool
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